The Table Audio w/ Evan Rosa

Lament for a Son: Nicholas Wolterstorff on Grief and Suffering

Episode Summary

Renowned philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff talks to us about his only non-philosophical published work, Lament for a Son—an expression of profound grief written in the wake of his son Eric's untimely death in 1983.

Episode Notes

"My grief wasn't about grief. It was about Eric."

Nicholas Wolterstorff is the Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, a renowned scholar and author of an incredible number of books on everything from metaphysics, the history of modern philosophical figures, like John Locke and Thomas Reid, justice, love, art and aesthetics, and his most recent foray into the metaphysics of sacrament and liturgical practices. In this conversation, we asked him about his only non‑philosophical published work—Lament for a Son—an expression of profound grief written in the wake of his son Eric's untimely death in 1983. Dr. Wolterstorff reflects on his own loss, the nature of grief, expression of lament in American society, the theological implications of suffering, and love.

Show Notes

Quotes from Nicholas Wolterstorff

Credits