Roberts was "torn by an internal struggle between his faith and a desire to be honest with himself." Roberts believed that Mormonism must "stand or fall" on the truth of Joseph Smith's claim that the Book of Mormon was the history of an ancient people inscribed on golden plates and revealed to him by an angel. Yet in his studies, Roberts cited examples of what he considered discrepancies, implausibilities and contradictions in the Book of Mormon. According to Marvin S. Hill, Roberts "maintained that the Book of Mormon's claims that the Indians were derived solely from three migrations of Hebrews to the new world over a span of three thousand years was entirely untenable." And Roberts concluded that the "evidence I sorrowfully submit" pointed to Joseph Smith as the Book of Mormon's creator.