The more that gathered to the king's house, the more bitter became the contention. What at first seemed friendly discussion turned into strife and angry passions, and soon into violent quarrels and wrangling. Many said that Ammon was the Great Spirit, while others that he had been sent by Him.
Still others wanted none of such ideas, but contended that Ammon was a monster, or a horrible thing whom the Nephites had sent to torment them.
Not a few among them expressed the idea that perhaps Ammon, because of their iniquities, had been sent by the Great Spirit to afflict them. They also, after witnessing the wonderful scene before them, concluded that the Great Spirit had in times past delivered the Nephites from the grasp of the Lamanites when their seizure was most iminent. In the experience of both peoples, this minority of the king's subjects saw wherein the Great Spirit always "attended the Nephites."