What does "through a glass, darkly" mean in 1 Corinthians 13:12?

Whosoever Will, The Most Impressive Resume in the Bible: He tells the Corinthians that the very gifts they are fighting over have an expiration date. Prophecies shall fail. Tongues shall cease. Knowledge shall vanish away. The things they have organized their status around are temporary by design. They are scaffolding, and scaffolding comes down when the building is finished. We know in part, and we prophesy in part. Even the best of it, the genuine article, the real prophecy from the real Spirit, is partial. Paul says we see now through a glass darkly. The word behind it is the polished metal mirror of the ancient world, which gave you a real image and a dim one, recognizable but not sharp. That is our best current sight of God. Real, and dim. But then face to face. That is the sentence the whole chapter has been walking toward. Everything partial gets replaced, not corrected. Not upgraded. Replaced, by sight. And love is the one item on the list that does not expire, because love is not scaffolding. It is the building. Scripture, King James Version: 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.".

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.