Through a Screen Darkly: 1 Corinthians 13:12 and the Illusion of Digital Transparency

This article develops a philosophical–exegetical reading of 1 Cor 13:12 as a theological critique of digital modernity's epistemic ideals of transparency, immediacy, and self-grounding knowledge. Through close analysis of Paul's metaphors of mirror, enigma, and eschatological temporality, it argues that human knowing is constitutively mediated, fragmentary, and relational. Against digital epistemologies that equate visibility, data access, and optimization with truth, Paul articulates an anthropology in which knowledge is grounded in being known by God and reordered by love as an epistemological corrective. The study shows that eschatological reserve and patience function as theological safeguards against epistemic totality, preserving openness, dependence, and hope as conditions of faithful knowing.