Lament for a Son

Analyze the role of faith in Wolterstorff’s grieving process. How does he reconcile his religious beliefs with the reality of his son’s death? What questions remain unanswered, and what do they reveal about the nature of faith in the text?

Discuss the concept of “suffering as a blessing” as presented in Lament for a Son. How does Wolterstorff grapple with this paradoxical idea? What are the advantages and disadvantages of such an approach?

Analyze the impact of Eric’s death on Wolterstorff’s family dynamics as portrayed in Lament for a Son. How does Wolterstorff describe the process of “restructuring” after loss? How does the memoir explore the experience of familial ties more generally?

Discuss the tension between personal and universal themes in Lament for a Son. How does Wolterstorff balance his individual experience with broader philosophical questions and discourses?

Examine the concept of time in Lament for a Son. How does Wolterstorff portray the relationship between past, present, and future in the context of grief?

Analyze Wolterstorff’s exploration of the relationship between human suffering and divine suffering. How does this perspective influence his understanding of his loss and his conceptions of the divine?

Wolterstorff grapples with the contrast between death’s physicality and the more abstract and intangible qualities of a living individual. How does the memoir explore the tensions between what is material and immaterial, living and deceased?

How does Lament for a Son explore the concept of remembrance versus forgetting?  How does Wolterstorff conceive of the nature and significance of remembrance?