Literary notes about schism (AI summary)
The term schism is deployed by authors to denote deep-seated divisions that can be both literal and metaphorical. In historical narratives, it often marks the moment when divergent factions—whether factions within religious bodies or between political groups—begin to fracture established unity, as seen in discussions of the split between the Greeks and Latins or the fractures within early Christianity [1][2][3]. In other contexts, writers invoke schism to illustrate how discord and internal rupture lead to broader consequences beyond mere separation, reflecting not only the rupture of communal bonds but also the ushering in of a new order or belief system [4][5]. This layered usage underscores the power of the word to encapsulate both the historical and the existential implications of division.
- The schism was not confined to the narrow limits of the Byzantine empire.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - It is curious to observe the first symptoms of jealousy and schism between old and new Rome, between the Greeks and Latins.]
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - The schism of the Greeks will be connected with their last calamities, and the restoration of learning in the Western world.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - That they disturbed the peace, that they created schism, etc. Zeal, light.
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal - Before the invention of printing, reform would have been merely a schism; printing converted it into a revolution.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo
