Qaddish. A Meditation on Divinity. Poems, Volume 5, 2023

A poetic meditation on the divine across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Inspired by the ancient Qaddish prayer, "Qaddish - Sanctus - Bismillah" is an ambitious sequence of poems exploring holiness, creation, mortality, compassion, truth, and love through the shared spiritual heritage of the Abrahamic traditions. Drawing on Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Aramaic, Egyptian and Arabic, Phil John Kneis weaves scripture, philosophy, history, and poetry into a contemporary reflection on humanity's search for transcendence.

The volume opens with a substantial introductory essay, "A Meditation on the Divine," examining the relationship between religion and science, faith and reason, transcendence and skepticism, while advocating a critical, non-dogmatic understanding of religious thought. Rather than defending any particular creed, it explores how spiritual traditions can remain meaningful in dialogue with philosophy, evolutionary science, and modern democratic values.

Blending lyrical poetry with intellectual inquiry, "Qaddish - Sanctus - Bismillah" invites readers of philosophy, comparative religion, theology, and literary poetry to rediscover the enduring questions of existence through one of humanity's oldest conversations.