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 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.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that is a modern narrating convention.... As you gave as an example, it's quite common in this era, and in another language I might add.   "All the world" can have a couple of different contexts, depending on how it is used.  The principle of charity, says that you should use the one that makes the most sense.  Now I have a high view of the Scriptures and too a large extent I am a Biblical literalness (not saying that everything is meant to be literal), but I think there are those on both sides, who try to over analyze, and take the Bible other than as it was intended.

Without knowing the specifics, I can't really speculate too much about where we would differ other than perhaps the extent of special creation. I would say; however, that the appearance of Abraham is where we start to see descriptions that would have been considered local historical events by the authors. This as opposed to general statements about the functional order of the world found in the first few chapters of Genesis. To my mind the genealogies seem to smooth the transition from largely figurative events (the deluge, the confusion of tongues, etc.) to actual events, like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.