A Beast Coming Up Out the Sea

And I saw a beast coming up out the sea, having seven heads and ten horns: and upon his horns, ten diadems: and upon his heads, names of blasphemy. 

-- Apocalypse 13:1

I was surfing the web tonight and stumbled across a reference to an organization that calls itself the "Sea of Faith Network".  It is dedicated to the idea that religion is false, but useful: a human creation that may help direct society in desirable ways.

Now, I am convinced by arguments based on Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and private revelation that the emergence of the Antichrist cannot happen until several prophecies are first fulfilled, several of which seem unlikely to occur within our lifetimes.  That said, the idea at the core of the "Sea of Faith Network" provides precisely the background from which any number of antichrists might emerge, each bringing enough misery and spiritual danger that it would scarcely comfort those who suffer because of them to be told, "Don't fret; this is just an antichrist, not the Antichrist."

The fact that this organization has chosen to name itself a "sea" is thus ... creepy.  Even creepier is the fact that the man who founded the group is an ex Anglican priest, so he will have been familiar with Revelation 13:1.

And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things.  But he shall worship the god Maozim, in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price.

 -- Daniel 11:37,38