[3:17*] Not without irony is the misguided self-estimation of the church condemned: it lives in the contented certainty of its wealth and does not recognize that before its Lord it stands poor, blind, and naked. Indeed, it seems here that the issue is not so much material self-satisfaction as it is the proud boasting about an ostensible spiritual possession (cf. 2:9*), for it corresponds to the manner of thinking of an enthusiasm influenced by Gnosticism (cf. 1 Cor. 4:8*); it is an enthusiasm that