Situating the Self in the Abyss

Since its inception in the Neoplatonic tradition, the abyss points primarily to the gap between the world and the radically transcendent God. At the same time, the abyss also denotes the internal crack within the self, that is, the irrevocable inner gap splitting the self. As David Coe tells us, for Augustine, the abyss was “related to the inwardness of man’s soul, to his freedom to choose his own concerns, and to his openness to the possibilities before him.”¹ This gap is not pertinent only to the human soul or self. It also indicates the inner fissure within Godself, that