Theists: What is the most compelling argument you have heard for Atheism?

[Neo-Scholastic]

I remember hearing a preacher say, with the respect Gen 6:1, that in the bible "all means all all the time," therefore the flood covered the entire earth. You're making the same mistake. You're trying to say that the authors of the bible intended to record such things as historical accounts using modern narrating conventions. Ancient Hebrew superlatives are often used for emphasis not as statements of fact. It's like me saying "This is the best burger ever!" We know that because there are multiple examples of superlative being used in just that way in other locations. The fact of the matter, is that the bible cannot contradict the findings of modern science because it's not making any scientific claims in the first place! Likewise the story of Jacob's ewes isn't a scientific claim about genetics or even and account of animal husbandry practices in the ancient world. To read it like that is just inappropriate.

The Bible doesn't make scientific claims, per se. However, it makes certain claims that can be evaluated through a scientific filter. Old-earth creationists -- of which I gather you are one -- don't stumble much over the Genesis creationist accounts, but YECs flatly contradict everything we now know about the age of the cosmos and our planet. At the least, you can agree that science provides a frame of reference in which certain approaches to reading the Bible are flatly ruled out, no?

Yes, I would agree to that. The way I see it, the findings of modern natural science greatly enhance our understanding of the biblical narratives. At the same time I think it is important to remember that the findings of science are always tentative. The saving grace of Jesus does not depend on whether our universe has an eternal past or started with a bang. On one thing the text is clear - God was the Creator regardless of whether it was created by divine intervention or providential order.