descendants lived lifespans lasting almost a thousand years. Then there was a great flood that covered the entire world, and God started again with Noah and his family. This, according to such readers, is exactly and obviously what the text of Genesis says. But it never really happened. If you built a time machine and went back to watch, you would not see any of these events—because they are not events. They are just stories, “pregnant myths,” designed to teach us about God and man and the world