One of the first stories most children learn from the Bible is about Noah and the ark. So if you ask any fellow believer, how many of each animal species that God told Noah to go and collect did he bring onto the ark, the answer will most likely be, two. This is what they learned when their mother or Sunday school teacher told them the story.

But that is not correct! And that is why some skeptics have questioned the truth about Noah’s ark due to the logistics involved. Not only do they wonder if the ark which he built by God’s direction be able to house two of every animal species involved, but when they learn the facts of how many there were, it makes it even more improbable.

The reason, this is the scripture that causes them to think this way: “Take with you seven pairs of every kind of animal fit for consumption, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of animal not fit for consumption, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.”

This is a case of “selective memory” on the part of many Christians. Not only does it effect the story of Noah, but other stories as well. For instance, the Bible does not say Eve gave Adam an apple, nor does it say that Paul the apostle fell from a horse when he was confronted by Jesus and the light from heaven outside Damascus. Yet we hear this over and over again in lessons and sermons Sunday after Sunday.

Once the people of the world find this out, no wonder they start to question whether or not we as believers really know what we’re talking about. That’s why we should not only read the Scriptures, but we should study them so that we are not telling them what we think the Scriptures say, but what we know the Scriptures say.