Through a glass darkly

[mug of tea]

What exactly does the biblical expression 'Through a glass darkly' mean

[woofgang]

The phrase come sfrom the bible , I think st paul anyway whoever, talking about the difference between mortal existence and the kingdom of heaven. Bsically, he's saying that in the mortal world we are confused by the material nature of things so that we can't see or know God and our true spiritual selves. the full quote is something like"now we see him as through a glass, darkly, then we shall know him face to face" Its probably confused by the translation from the hebrew but i had it explained to me that a glasss is a mirror. In this world we can only see the reflection of God's glory in his creation but it is onbscured (darkened ) by such evils as war sickness, cruelty etcetera caused by the devil and by man,s imperfect nature. In heaven we can turn and see Him (Her) face to face

[woofgang]

me again, i just checked, its St Pauls first letter to the corinthians, chapter thirteen, also i forgot to mention that when it was written most mirrors were made of polished metal so people would have understood the allusion because they were used to the fact that their mirrors could only show a didtorted image.

[xyzzy@bok]

this, woofgang also answers the Kate Bush 'Suspended in Gaffa' question too, for me, so thx :-)