"Augustine wrote that too much learning had been expended on the nature of the firmament.[9] "We may understand this name as given to indicate not it is motionless but that it is solid." he wrote.[9]
Saint Basil argued for a fluid firmament.[9]
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the firmament had a "solid nature" and stood above a "region of fire, wherein all vapor must be consumed."[10]"
Before the Christians, the Jews also had such interpretations:
"According to The Jewish Encyclopedia:
The Hebrews regarded the earth as a plain or a hill figured like a hemisphere, swimming on water. Over this is arched the solid vault of heaven. To this vault are fastened the lights, the stars. So slight is this elevation that birds may rise to it and fly along its expanse.[8]"
Re:Opposition to Galileo was scientific, not just religious
by ashirus on Thursday October 06, 2016 @07:13PM
(#12656909)
That section of the Jewish Encyclopaedia is itself unsourced and, to the best of my knowledge in Jewish cosmology, was not actually Jewish view of the cosmos.
We talk about the religious view. For the religious view the Bible was actually relevant for the Church:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmament
"Augustine wrote that too much learning had been expended on the nature of the firmament.[9] "We may understand this name as given to indicate not it is motionless but that it is solid." he wrote.[9]
Saint Basil argued for a fluid firmament.[9]
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the firmament had a "solid nature" and stood above a "region of fire, wherein all vapor must be consumed."[10]"
1475:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmament#/media/File:Scheme_o...
Before the Christians, the Jews also had such interpretations:
"According to The Jewish Encyclopedia:
The Hebrews regarded the earth as a plain or a hill figured like a hemisphere, swimming on water. Over this is arched the solid vault of heaven. To this vault are fastened the lights, the stars. So slight is this elevation that birds may rise to it and fly along its expanse.[8]"