Was Noah’s Flood World-Wide Or Regional?

Tim Keller is a noted Evangelical minister and writer based in Manhattan. He describes his understanding of the historicity of Noah and the flood this way:
I believe Noah’s flood happened, but that it was a regional flood, not a world-wide flood. On the one hand, those who insist on it being a world-wide flood seem to ignore too much the scientific evidence that there was no such thing. On the other hand, those who insist that it was a legend seem to ignore too much the trustworthiness of the Scripture.

After Genesis 1, the rest of Genesis reads like historical narrative. If, it is asked, “what of the Biblical assertions that the flood covered every mountain over the whole earth” (Gen.7:19,21), we should remember that the Bible often speaks of the “known world” as the “whole world” – compare Gen. 41:56,57; Acts 2:5,9-11; Col.1:23. [1]
But these same kind of arguments can overturn other Bible truths. One commentator on Keller’s book showed the dangers of his logic by arguing facetiously:
Applying that approach, let me lay out my own assumptions regarding the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe Christ’s resurrection happened, but that it was a spiritual resurrection, not a physical and bodily resurrection.

On the one hand, those who insist on it being a physical and bodily resurrection seem to ignore too much the scientific evidence that there can be no such thing. On the other hand, those who insist that it was a legend seem to ignore too much the trustworthiness of the Scripture. [2]
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1. Tim Keller, “Genesis: What Were We Put in the World to Do?” [New York: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2006],81)

2. Response by “Eileen” on January 12, 2012.