phrases - Through a Glass, Clearly / A Scanner Darkly / In a Mirror, Darkly / etc


I've seen a pattern in a couple of titles.



  • Asimov has a book called "Through a Glass, Clearly".

  • Philip Dick wrote "A Scanner Darkly".

  • Star Trek has the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly"

  • Agatha Christy wrote the story "In a Glass, Darkly"


Curiously, 3 of the 4 are sci-fi. Any reason for the commonality of phrasing? Does it have some sort of meaning? Anyone know how it originated? Is it used in spoken English?



Answer



It originates from 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.



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