Wrote on Latter-day Saint history, scripture, and the relationship between revelation and human language.
B. H. Roberts (1857–1933) was born into tragic poverty in Warrington, Lancashire, England
Oriental Religious Faiths — BYU Studies
In this 1909 volume, Roberts argues for an ancient, divinely translated record through a cumulative case from witnesses, internal features, and American antiquities. His treatment uses a broad American geography, but its closing discussion explicitly reopens the possibility of a setting around Mexico and Yucatán and says his South American identifications may require revision.
Roberts argues that divine assistance made the meaning of the record available to Smith, who expressed it in the language he could command. This account permits human grammar and phrasing within an inspired translation and does not require every English word to have been supplied independently of Smith.
was expressed in such language as the Prophet could command