 The deification of Ahn Sahng-hong and Zahng Gil-jah has been "harshly criticized," and has led to the church being officially condemned by The National Council of Churches in Korea as an interdenominationally combatted, blasphemous, heretical cult.Around 1997, Witnesses of Ahn Sahng-hong Church of God had established a non-profit organization titled the Church of God World Mission Society for the purpose of registering and managing the organization's assets.Witnesses of Ahn Sahng-hong Church of God announced that "1988 is the end of the world" citing as Ahn had done in his 1980 book "The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life".