The Bible was written to be understood by all, including people with absolutely zero formal education living two millennia ago.
Do you deep down believe that God created the universe in six days? Literally? 24 hour days? How do we know what a 'day' is to God?
No, I don't believe that the Earth or the Universe were created in a literal 24 hour day.
As a matter of fact, the Bible is it's own source of this NOT being the case.
I don't have my bible in front of me but .. Somewhere in the Genesis account it talks about "IN THE DAY" that all these things were created.
This scripture follows the days of creation story that is first laid out.
There are also scriptures that talk about "A day is a Thousand Years as a Thousand Years is a day"!
(I probably mauled that one but .. you get the idea?)
I too have struggled with the timeframe of Genesis and concluded with the literal reading of it. To create a universe in six days is something only an extraordinaire God would be capable of. Because God is the Author of time He could just as easily fast forward events to include lights from the stars to illuminate our skies as we can set the timer on a microwave. This is not deception but common sense and gives those who wish to argue against the plain Word of God something to ponder.
Genesis presents a unique theory: the creation of all things by a single creator. Babylonian, Greek, and Roman mythology did not posit this at all. So the question is: where did the idea come from?