[Pyrrhus]

The firmament wouldn't be part of the earth then would? (This is for clarification not a debate on the firmament) As an analogy the Earth to the firmament would be like a marble in a bowl of pudding, where the marble is earth as a closed system including its atmosphere.

Your reference to Genesis 1:6-8 supports a view similar to this doesn't it? (Genesis 1:6-8) God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 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. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

"And God called the firmament Heaven", I'm assuming Earth and Heaven are being held separate. Kindly elaborate if I am mistaken. I apologize about ill-clarity of my previous comment, I was focusing too much on the divide.