Note that I really dont apologize for anything written in the Bible, so I dont indulge in 'apologetics'.
Quote:
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Gen 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Gen 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
The firmament is the lower atmosphere. In the creation story God brought water up above to the clouds where the clouds hold the water. Thus he seperated the waters from the waters.
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Astronomy even claims that the earth is a sphere, so there is not even a "below" and "above
In that case there is no 'below' or 'above' anywhere because all space throughout the universe is relative. I dont think too much about it though or else I would have trouble walking up the stairs. 
...is the universe falling down or up?
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This passage was written in 500 BC in the Babylonian exile
Perhaps a copy, but the original story was passed down verbaly untill Moses finally documented it(mark 12:26,luke 24:27, John 1:45, Romans 10:5,2 Cor 3:15)There is no reason to doubt the Bible tradition untill there is evidence to the contrary.
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Babylonian creation myth where the God Marduk did the same thing (creating a vault and separating the waters below from the waters above).
A lot of these stories are similar because they actually happened, rather than one civilization copying from another.
