Dear friends:

Christian greetings.

A little history lesson. Back in the 1870s, there was a book written by Mrs. J. Gregory Smith titled SEOLA. It told the story of life before the flood. Pastor Russell recommended its reading as he found it quite fascinating. The book eventually went out of print and in 1924 some brethren revised it and published it under the title "Angels and Women." It was quite popular among the brethren and the Watchtower in the 1920s and 30 actually sold it.

Among some brethren it was a favorite and among others taboo. Orginal copies of the book sell for upwards of a thousand dollars, there was even an appendix with references to the "Studies in the Scriptures."

Most of the brethren who have copies are just that "copies of the original. A few years ago a met a gentlemen named Jim, who had the book reprinted as a result of finding it fascinating. He was not a Bible Student, but a born again Christian. .

I asked him about the revisions and he told me"

"The book was revised in the sense that I took all the extemporaneous WT references out and I made the book a little easier to read. It was written in older english (thou's thy's etc) and other words that have no meaning today. So basically it's just the story stripped of all the extra stuff. This book is going out to many non JW's so the tie to the WT would prejudiced some I'm sure."

I have obtained a dozen or so copies of the first printing and it will be made available on the Bible Students Online site [www.biblestudents.net] to any who request it.

The cost of the book is $12.00 which includes postage and handling. Any on the list who are interested can place an order:

Christian Bible Students Association
P.O. Box 6685
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

Thank you and Lord bless!

RR

Thanks for the info, RR. By the way, is there any place the original version can be read on the web? I don't suppose it's somewhere on my Bible Student Library CD...

...but I already have the real thing. The other book on your site look interesting.

This one Sherlock has been revised. The original was written in old 'King James' English, the new one was revised into todays English. Replacing words that are no longer in use today. I have a copy of the original myself. So Nah!

The original has a publication date of 1924, by the A.B. ABAC Company, of New York. This edition has the 18 page appendix. I also have the new edited edition by Jim Rizoli (X-jw), this edition has a light blue paperback cover.

I have copies of the original book Seola (1800's) and of the revised book Angels And Women (1924). Both are fascinating reads, although much of the original is not in the revision.

Not that I know of Reagan. It's not on the BSL library. And I don't think it ever will be on any conservative Bible Student publications lists.

For some of the brethren the book is taboo, yet others see it as a good book of fiction.