Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Answers to some questions about the erasmus Bible app.
The name is pronounced Eh-raz-mus and is named after Desiderius Erasmus (aka Erasmus of Rotterdam) (1466-1536), a Dutch philosopher and theologian whom many consider to be one of the greatest scholars of the Renaissance. The Commentator Adam Clarke said that Erasmus was one of the "most correct Latin scholars since the Augustan age", several hundred years prior. Erasmus prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament, which became the basis of what we call the Textus Receptus, which is the manuscript used for many Bibles include the Tyndale, Bishops Bible, and the King James Version, among others.
Erasmus handled the scripture with honesty and respect, and went with what he thought was the actual meaning, regardless of the predominant Catholic interpretation of the day. This sometimes put him at odds with the Catholic church, while delighting later Protestants. However, sometimes the Protestants were at odds with him as well. We admire and approve of such an approach to scripture. We are non-sectarian and provide tools and reference works which we think treat the scripture with the respect it deserves, without being overly sectarian. Erasmus is a good role model in that respect and seemed to us to be an appropriate name for our app and our approach.
Why should I choose erasmus over all of the other choices for study apps?
If you are already using an app that works for you, keep using it! We have no desire to replace other study apps. If you don't already use a study app or you are dissatisfied with the app you use, there are some good reasons to use erasmus.
Online vs Apps
Study apps can be divided into two general categories: online and downloadable apps. The advantage of apps over online services is that apps can offer a level of customization that a free web site cannot offer. Reliable online sites, such as biblehub.com, provide a large library of works, and they may completely meet your needs. But web sites typically don't provide a means of saving your preferences or allowing you to save user-created content. Apps, on the other hand, allow you to customize your experience much more. Apps also provide a higher level of integration between the different reference works and the feature set of the software.
Another problem with online resources is that it may be hard to determine which ones are honest distributors of Bible study material. There are many which are, but there are also many sources that are sectarian or outright heretical (not to mention the ones which are simply weird fringe sites). Typically, apps tend to provide a more reliable source of material for those who may not know who to trust.
App target audiences
Among apps, there are two basic target audiences: scholarly and general. Apps such as provided by Logos and Accordance are oriented toward seminary students, researchers, professors, and so forth. Apps like erasmus are oriented toward lay people, teachers, and pastors. That isn't to say that scholarly apps don't have features that appeal to lay people, or that erasmus doesn't have features that appeal to seminary students. Rather, it is a matter of focus. The approach taken by erasmus is to support Bible study by the average believer (or even unbelievers who want to understand what the Bible is all about), but at the same time allow the user to dig as deep as they want into a passage, topic, or word. If you want something more scholarly, go with one of those options instead of erasmus (although you can always use erasmus in addition to your other app.)
There are some specialty apps such as memorization tools and prayer journals. erasmus provides these features as well as study tools and a wide range of reference material, so you only need a single app for all these needs. But if you already have a memorization or prayer app that serves your needs, we don't suggest you discard them. If you don't have an app already, you can use erasmus.
Differences Between Apps
There are two aspects to all Bible apps: the features of the software and the library of reference works. We've seen side-by-side comparisons of the feature set of various commercial apps, but they tend to diminish the competitor's features while emphasizing their own. Sometimes they don't even list features of the competitor if they don't offer a similar feature of their own. Even when they both have a feature, that says nothing about the nuances of that feature. Any given feature common to apps can vary in how easy it is to use and how much utility it provides the user. To add to the confusion, just because you can list a feature that the "other" app doesn't have doesn't mean that is a useful feature. We've seen some flashy capabilities in some apps that provide dubious benefit to the user. Even if such comparisons were perfect, each release of the apps provides new features, so any comparison is only valid until a new version of one or the other app is released. Therefore, we don't provide a comparison chart between erasmus and other apps - at best they are temporary; at worst they are misleading. And we'd rather work on our app than spend time making comparisons with other apps.
Likewise, the library of reference material provided by most Bible apps varies considerably. Some reference works are found in all of them (such as the King James Version of the Bible), while others may be exclusively found in only one app. Each app comes with some "free" works, with the commercial apps offering additional works for a price. The price is almost always less than what you would pay for a print copy, so apps can allow you to build a quite extensive theological library for a fraction of the cost of a printed version. Free apps, such as erasmus provide many free reference works, including those that commerical apps require you to pay for. Some apps have huge libraries of works available, whether for free or for purchase. But, just as with features, not all reference works are equal in value. Frankly, there are some works offered by some companies that we would never provide because they are useless for study purposes or are overly sectarian, or are outright heretical (such as the book of Enoch). So a straight comparison of available reference works can be just as misleading as a feature comparison. The reference works for erasmus have been curated to include only those that are in general alignment with the Christian faith, as it has been understood over the centuries. That isn't to say that we agree with every last statement found in our reference works (in fact, there are differences of opinion between some of the works that we include). It is healthy to understand the varity of viewpoints on various issues and we do not try to force any particular doctrinal view. As long as the material treats the Bible with respect and doesn't stray from historical scholarship we don't specifically exclude it. So we have intentionally stayed with mainstream, trusted, and study-useful works. Finally, even commerical apps will typically provide only part of a reference work. For instance, a Bible will have all of the verses, but will lack prefatory material and appendecies. Likewise, a commentary will also often lack appendecies and prefatory material, as well as images, maps, diagrams, and sometimes footnotes. erasmus provides the entirety of the reference work (minus indexes, since you can do searches in the app). Thus, unlike most other options out there, you are getting a full electronic version of each work, in a format customized to your electronic device. With erasmus you will truly have the equivalent of a physical theological library in your personal electronic version - for free and without requiring the shelf space!
The Bottom Line
For the general Bible study apps, which one you choose depends largely on your tastes. Is the app easy to use? Does it offer the reference works that you desire? Does it provide the features that you need? Are the reference works complete enough for you? At the most basic level, all available apps provide the same set of features - the only difference being how you use those features. But advanced features and available reference works will vary between the free options that are available. Free versions of commercial software are limited versions of the paid version. No software usually provides free material that is currently under copyright, so you are going to have to pay for modern works no matter which option you go with. In terms of public domain works (such as the KJV Bible), most commercial software limits what is included with the free version because they don't want to cut into their revenue stream by providing for free what they can make money on. erasmus provides all of its public domain works for free and we are adding new ones all the time. We also provide some modern works that we have persmission to include for free. Go ahead and try the various free options to see how you like them. We think you will find that erasmus is one of the easiest and feature-rich of the options.
We wouldn't have produced erasmus if it were simply to provide yet another choice among so many others. Rather, we rely on it ourselves for Bible study and have developed it to meet not only our needs but the great need of believers in the western church to study the scriptures. We are constantly working toward the fulfillment of our vision of what a complete study tool should be, but we already include some features not found in other commercial apps. Each release is another step toward our goal. We invite you to come along with us on our journey!
Security on your Kindle device normally prevents app downloads from anywhere but the Amazon app store. However, you can download erasmus from our site by following the steps below. Note that erasmus requires Fire OS 7 or later. To find the version of Fire OS running on your device go to Settings | Device Options | System Updates. Your Fire OS version will be shown there.
To download erasmus to Kindle:
- Go to your Fire tablet's Settings.
- Tap Security & Privacy (on some older models, this may be called Security).
- Enable Apps from Unknown Sources (or a similar setting for unknown sources) for the Silk browser.
- Download erasmus for Android from our site.
- Locate and tap the APK file on your Fire tablet to install it.
- Go back to your Fire tablet's Settings.
- Tap Security & Privacy, as above.
- Disable Apps from Unknown Sources.
Why does my device say that the erasmus download has a virus?
We have validated that the downloads do not contain malware by using multiple virus detectors, such as Malwarebytes. However, some browsers or antivirus may sometimes misidentify erasmus downloads as containing a virus. The result may be that the download is automatically deleted by the browser.
False positives from virus scanners happen regularly - and not just on erasmus. The problem with commercial virus scanners like Norton and McAfee is that they fear the bad publicity that comes from not catching an actual virus, which causes them to make their detectors overly sensitive.
"Heuristics based" virus scanners are especially bad. Rather than looking for known viruses, they look for virus-like behaviour. As you might imagine, legitimate installers do a lot of things that a virus also does, such as writing files, updating the Windows registry, and so forth.
First of all, make sure you are downloading erasmus from our web site (or the Apple app store). We cannot vouch for any other source for the app. By downloading from our site, you are also guaranteed to get the latest version.
Second, we recommend that you verify a positive virus identification with multiple antivirus products, such as malwarebytes, Windows Security essentials, and AVG. If they all report a virus then you have reason to be suspicious. However, if one or more of them do not identify a virus, the file is almost certainly virus-free. You can also use virustotal.com website. This site can scan URLs or files against a long list of different virus scanners. If most report a virus, then there might be a problem. Otherwise, you are probably safe.
Chrome won't even let me download erasmus because it says it has a virus.
To work around this, you need to use a different internet browser to download the file, or turn off your antivirus long enough to finish the download (just be sure to turn it back on when you are done)!
Some versions of Chrome may mark the download as "potentially unsafe". In the this case you can click on the download icon, and then click "Keep" on the download. But in any case, it might be faster to simply use another browser, such as Firefox.
Google Play requires that apps use a very recent API (Android OS version); apps that use older APIs are automatically removed from the store. We purposefully use older APIs for erasmus so that it works on devices with older versions of Android. Some older devices can't be upgraded to a newer version of Android and we don't want to prevent these devices from running erasmus. This prevents us from even uploading a version of erasmus to the store for distribution. Not to worry though - you can always download the latest version from our download page.
If your device has an old version of the Android OS, it can't run apps that require later versions of Android. Though we try to make erasmus run on the oldest devices possible, there is a limit to what we can do. Part of this is related to the software tools we use to build the app, which only support certain old Android versions. See the download page for the minimum system requirements for the current version of erasmus. An even more important cause of this problem is that each version of the Android OS only supports some older APIs (the API indicates which version of Android that the app was designed for). As each Android version is released, the number of old supported APIs is reduced. Because Android is not very good at backward compatibility, in order to run on the latest devices, we are constrained in which API we can use to build the app. This means that over time, the app will run on fewer of the oldest Android devices. We simply cannot afford to provide Android releases for every Android OS version ever released. Nevertheless, we support the latest Android version, and as far back as we can given that requirement.
Note: This issue also affects IOS for similar reasons.
My device warns me that erasmus uses an old API and may be dangerous.
One reason for updated Android versions is to make Android more secure (less likely for malware to cause trouble on your device). So it gets suspicious of apps that use old APIs. You need not worry, though. erasmus does not have any functionality that can cause problems on your device, regardless of which API it uses. You can safely ignore this notice when it shows on your device. See above question for a description of why we use older APIs for erasmus on Android.
Note: you may also get this - or a similar - warning if you install a 32-bit version of erasmus on later Android devices. The 32-bit version is for older devices. Try the 64-bit version instead. Most, if not all, devices released in the last several years support the 64-bit version.
When I try to run the download, the system prevents it.
Click on one of the following links to see detailed instructions for your device:
Windows
Android
Mac
Some devices - especially mobile phones - have limited storage space, so we offer a series of collections which are different sizes so that you can choose one that fits your device(s). Also, you may not want all of the reference works that a larger collection contains, so you have the choice to not use any more storage space than is necessary for what you want. New reference works are only added to the largest collection of the app - all other collections have a fixed set of reference works in order to keep the size of those collections consistent. Note however that additional program features and reference work corrections may cause the size to change slightly with each new version of erasmus.
If erasmus is free, why do I have to pay for add-ons?
We cannot give away content that is currently under copyright unless we've specifically been given permission to do so. For such content, we seek licensing agreements with the copyright holders which typically require us to make royalty payments to them for each sale. The small amount of money that we make off these sales goes toward subsidizing the continued development of erasmus. We make public domain material available for free and the app itself will always be free. You don't need to purchase any add-on content to make good use of erasmus, but add-ons are there if you desire a specific reference work that is not in the public domain.
The release notes refer to "minor fixes" to Bible versions. Are there errors in the Bible text that you provide?
Be assured, we are careful with the actual verse text of the Bibles and have not released anything with any errors that we are aware of. What the release notes are referring to in this case have to do with formatting issues, such as missing or incorrect paragraph breaks, superscripts, spacing or indentation, bolding/italicizing, headings, minor spelling changes, or possible textual errors in prefaces or introductions. It may also refer to internal changes that are invisible to the reader but may affect program operations such as searching. Likewise, minor changes to non-Bible reference works typically indicates the same issues.
How do you determine which reference works to include?
Because erasmus is free, we can only include free content with it. Generally that is public domain works, however some authors have given us permission to distribute their material for free. Thus, we are limited to what is available. There is a huge amount of useful public domain material, but sometimes it is not available in a form that we can obtain. For some material, we scan printed material and convert it to a format compatible with erasmus. Sometimes, other people have converted the material to electronic form and released it. But regardless of how we obtain it, it always requires significant work on our part to prepare it for use with erasmus. Much of the public domain material is in rough shape and it takes a lot of effort to process it. In the case of large reference works, we spend months to get them ready. This typically limits us to only one major new work per release.
Within those constraints, our next consideration is providing works that round out what is available in erasmus. For example, one release might include a new encyclopedia, while the next may be a new commentary, and the next may be a devotional or set of sermons. That way, the app will not be skewed toward a single type of reference work - rather, a variety of helps are available. We also tend toward works which are referenced in other works that are already included in erasmus. That way, you can quickly follow the references without having to leave the app.
We only include works that we consider to have handled the scripture properly. Thus, we will not include Bible translations such as:
The New World Translation (NWT) - a faulty translation by the Jehovah Witnesses;
the Passion Translation (TPT) - a sectarian translation;
The Lexham English Bible - A computer translation from the English equivalent words in an interlinear, with minimal human input. The problem here is that an interlinear has words in Hebrew order, which is sometimes different enough from English word ordering as to cause misleading translations. Further, interlinears don't address Hebraisms, so this version suffers from being overly literal. Additionally, the person most involved with the final product did not believe in inerrancy of the scripture and assumed the author of Genesis had a faulty cosmogeny, which resulted in questionable translations of some words and phrases, among other issues.
The reference works we include must be a good "fit" for erasmus. The purpose of erasmus is Bible study, so included works should help with that. Our target audience is lay people and teachers. However, we occasionally include works that could be considered more academic. The idea with those is to provide the ability for even lay people to dig into the scripture as deeply as they desire.
We also try to avoid overly sectarian works so that erasmus is useful to as many people as possible. This is not entirely possible, of course, but we aim for works that have the broadest possible appeal, without sacrificing fidelity to the scripture. Thus, erasmus will not appeal to fringe groups, nor is it intended to. When there are legitimate differences of opinion on things, we try to include works that present different sides of the disagreement so that you have enough information to come to your own conclusions.
Even with those considerations, there is an awful lot of material that we could include, so our selection process will tend toward those works which have shown their long-term value through continued popularity over the decades. We usually have reference work releases planned out for two, or more, years in advance. However, we don't announce those choices ahead of time in case our plans change. We don't want to get people's hopes up and then disappoint them.
When you sign up for alerts, a confirmation email is sent to you. You must click the link in that email to confirm that you want to receive emails. Until/unless this is done, you will receive no emails. This is to prevent someone else from signing you up for alerts without your permission.
When I sign up for an account, email alerts, or request a password reset, I never receive the confirmation email.
1. Verify that you used the proper email address (try again and double-check the spelling).
2. Make sure you allow at least an hour for the confirmation email to be delivered. We send out the email immediately, but sometimes it can take a while to work it's way through email servers on its way to you. Note that we've seen that some large services (like Gmail) have taken 24 hours to get our emails delivered. We have no control over this. If you try to sign up multiple times before you get the confirmation email, you may eventually receive multiple confirmation emails. You can use any one of them to confirm your email and simply delete the rest.
3. Check your spam folder in case your email client mis-identified the confirmation email as spam.
4. If you use Windows (Essentials) Live Mail, be aware that the program sometimes automatically deletes mail that it thinks is spam. Consider using a different email client or webmail.
5. If you simply cannot seem to get a confirmation email to a subscription request, you can try adding yourself via mailchimp.
6. If all else fails, click here to send us a message and we will assist you. Note that it may take us several business days to get back to you.
Click here to see step-by-step instructions on how to add an online prayer list to your prayer journal in erasmus.
How do I create an online prayer list with erasmus that others can use?
Click here to see step-by-step instructions on how to create an online prayer list.
Some Bibles (such as the Westminster Hebrew Codex) have different versification than other versions. That means that, although the text is there, the verse numbers associated with it may differ slightly. In this circumstance, erasmus will take you to the same verse text, even if it is a different verse number.
But when I specify a verse in the reference dialog, why does it go to the verse number I enter rather than the verse corresponding to the equivalent verse in a Bible such as the WEB version?
When you specify a version and verse, erasmus goes to the verse in that reference work. No versification compensation is done except when you cross-reference between versions.
What is the release schedule for erasmus?
We aim for about a six-month development cycle, meaning roughly two releases per year. However, we don't have an official schedule, nor do we announce releases ahead of time. Too many times, we've been disappointed by companies that announce a release date for a product and then miss it. We'd rather not make predictions that we might not be able to meet. Further, aiming for a specific release date results in releases that are driven by a timeline rather than by quality. We plan our releases based on improvements and new features that we feel we can complete within six months, so we release when the product is ready - it might be longer than six months, or it might be shorter.
How do you determine what to include in each release?
Our goal is for each release to include one new major reference work, and one or two smaller reference works. We also have a specific roadmap of app features, and we try to include at least one of those features with each release. We often also include minor refinements of existing features to make the app easier to use. We try to release without any serious bugs (those which prevent a feature from working at all or causing the app to abend), but sometimes things may slip through our Quality Control. In the case of a serious issue, we might release an intermediate version of the app outside of our normal release schedule, whose sole purpose is to fix that issue.
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