Absolutely not true that "the church at the time based their understanding of the physical universe primarily on Aristotle." We talk about the religious view.

Absolutely not true that "the church at the time based their understanding of the physical universe primarily on Aristotle." We talk about the religious view. For the religious view the Bible was actually relevant for the Church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmament 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_of_things1475.gif 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]"