Because a number of Old Testament passages historically have suggested a geocentric cosmology—principally those found in Joshua (10:12–14), Job (9:6–7), Isaiah (38:7–8), and II Kings (20:8–11)—in terms of biblical cosmology the Book of Mormon references appear ostensibly as a historical anachronism.

. . .

With a few exceptions, pre-Copernican views of the cosmos, whether Hebrew, Greek, or Egyptian, strongly favored a geocentric cosmos. If the Book of Mormon reflects Old Testament understanding of the cosmos, then the discrepancy can only be rationalized as being highly idiosyncratic. Nevertheless, though heliocentrism increasingly dominated Western thinking since the late Renaissance, a sun-centered worldview was not unknown in pre-Christian days.