Miscellanea 481 Miscellanea en i.n the Christian Day School Today as never before in the history of our country women are entering professions and business careers. Within certain physical limitations the weaker sex is furnishing proof that woman is capable of learning, of producing, and of managing as well as man. The teaching l ' l u ~ e ~ ~ i u I l has long attracted women. Our public elementary school system of today rests mostly on their shoulders. Catholic elementary schools are taught almost exclusively by women. There was a time when our Lutheran Christian day schools were taught almost altogether by men especially trained for school and congregational work. Gradually it was falma expedient to employ lady teachers. Today the Lutheran Annual lists approximately 450 woman teachers for our schools. According to a conservative estimate, about one fourth of the teachers in our Lutheran schools will be woman teachers in the near future, and this number will very likely rise considerably as the crying teacher shortage continues and increases. It is fortunate for our schools that i 1 1 a n ~ ' l \vOlnen teach in thc·m. The touch of w O ~ ' 1 n ' s hand is pleasantly felt. Woman is ideally fitted for the work of teaching children. Her mot..lJ.erly disposition a.'1d inclination is desirable for the training of small children. Her fine attention to detail fits her well for performing the innumerable and tedious little details which many parents expect the school to perform and which make an easy transition for the child from the home environment to a realistic world via the early school years. Many struggling little schools have been brought through their years of infancy by a woman teacher, and many of our large schools employ woman teachers in the lower and in the intermediate grades, and they are satisfied to do so. We must, however, take care that we do not overestimate the place of women b our system of Christian elementary education to the exclusion or even to the curtailment of the masculine element. In spite of our tremendous social upheaval, or, rather, on account of it, the place of the woman is still in the home. Every reader of these lines could cite examples of family and child neglect where women have left their homes in order to take their place in business and in the professions. l\1::any of our school problems can be traced directly to the fact that woman and mother has left home. Early child training which should have been taken care of at home is often neglected, and the schools are blamed lor failing to cope satisfactorily with disciplina:r.,r problems that have their roots in the home. Our Lord evidently does not intend woman primarily for a profession outside the hom'" mhqn He speaks thus in 1 Tim. 5: 14: "I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house." There are those who argue that we must employ as teachers rather than men because it eases the congregational treasurJ. It is true 31 482 Miscellanea that many congregations could not have a school if they were to provide a teacherage and a salary sufficient to support a teacher's family besides j)r'Oviding for their pastor's nee&. BuL it is also hue Lhat a sense of false economy has often proved detrimental to the school and to the congregation. Many congregations have labored under an imaginary load of raising a pittance for a woman teacher or for a candidate for a long time. When the school began to expand and when interest for it increased in the congregation, it became a matter of joy to salary one, two, and three men teachers. It is still true that "he who sows sparingly, reaps sparingly." The effort of providing large donations and gifts for the work of Christian education often returns in the most bountiful blessings to a congregation. The tenure of woman teachers is generally much shorter than that of men. The training of woman teachers therefore requires a greater investment to Synod for the retun}s j:eceiveu. thai} it does for the training of men teachers, because as a rule men teachers serve the Church for a lifetime. This increased cost of the training of woman teachers must be borne by our congregations and by individuals in the congregation who often try to save a little salary when they employ woman teachers in preference to men teachers. Children imitate consciously and unconsciously the adults with whom they ,"'-2 most close] ....... _-... -: ...... -d. Such in1itaiion is not --.. " - . : - + - ~ ... ~ outwanL actions and appearances, but a child's behavior jJdLCel.llci, Hi;; emotional control or the lack of it, his mode or thinking, and the Inanner in which he reacts to his environment are all determined to a great ext by his early impressions and by what he has copied from his ad associates, Thinking people have long deplored the lack of masculllle impressions upon the children in many of our public elementary schools. In most families occasions arise when it becomes necessary for the father to introduce stern measures of discipline because the adolescent boy or girl or a younger child refuses to be corrected by the mother. We have a counterpart of this situation in our schools. There is little wonder that the Lord holds primarily the father responsible for the Christian training of the children. There is still a limit to the service which our woman teachers can render to the congregation and to the school. Many occasions arise in the school, in the congregation, and in the conlmunity which can be dealt with more successfully by men than by women. Our men teachers are the keymen on many committees which deal with problems in Christian education. To be sure, the pastor is the leading man in representing the school berore the Board of Christian Education, the church council, and the congregation. But with our widespread developments in the field of Christian education our pastors often appreciate the fact that they can calI upon their men teachers to stand side by side with them, to advise them, and to shoulder much of the responsibility in directir:g the vvork, Who will estimate the far-reaching results of the valu" of our men teachers to Synod during fhe last 100 years in their vario'-lS 2apacities as members of synodical boards and committees, as faculty E),embers of our teachers' colleges, speakers at eonrerences and conventions, youth workers, musicians, writers of articles on Christian education, and as Miscellanea 483 workers in many other capacities in which they have applied their full masculine strength in building the Kingdom of God among the younger generations? And who can estimate the potential usefulness of our men teachers in the future with the increased emphasis which is being laid upon teacher training at present? Much of the solidity found in our schools and in our school systems can be traced to the fact that the office of the Lutheran man teacher is considered auxiliary to that of the pastor and that he is divinely and permanently called by the congregation. The ease with which a woman teacher can be engaged and dismissed may be a convenience to some congregations, but it can hardly build for solidity in our schools and for the necessary raising and maintaining of the proper respect for the teaching personnel. Juvenile delinquency is making shocking inroads into our society, into the churches, schools, and homes. In times like these our Church is confronted with the challenge to place into our schools the best masculine timber available. Many of our homes are crumbling. Teachers of parochial schools as well as teachers of the public schools are unanimous in declaring that the last few years have multiplied the difficulties of handling school situations, and we have not yet seen the end. Shall we complacently and deliberately help to weaken the structure of our schools by shifting the increased burdens upon the shoulders of the weaker sex for the sake of congregational convenience and for the sake of false economy? We laud the vision and the foresight or our fathers in launching forth vigorously upon the work of Christian elementary education, in establishing schools, ably taught by well-trained men teachers. TiIne marches on. If there ever was need for vision, foresight, and longrange planning by well-qualified and highly trained Christian men in the field of Christian elementary education, this time is now upon us. The present war crisis is weighing heavily upon our Christian day school system. Our Church can ill afford to enter the postwar developments in education on the defensive side. Now is the time to plan and to undertake aggressively a program of expansion in Christian elementary education and especially in our system of elementary schools under able male leadership. May our Lord grant us wisdom and blessing in the all-important work of child training, and may He to that end continue to provide our Church with a sufficient number of well-trained, able, and consecrated men and women teachers. A. H. KRAMER Ueber das Buch F. H. Meyers "The Crux of Chronology" An Essay to Establish the Life Time of Jesus Christ an.d ta Stabilize the Date fif Easter * Gemaess dem Nebentitel des Buches moechte der Verfasser vor aHem die Julianische Datierung der Kreuzigung Christi feststellen. Das nimmt gleich viele Herzen fuer ibn ein. Denn da nun einmal genau der juedische Tag und Monat hierfuer von der Schrift angegeben wird und die Roemer die Oberhoheit im Lande fuehrten, sie Erschienen 1m Verlag von Bruce Humphries, Inc., Boston, 1942. 484 Miscellanea also auch ihre Julianischen Daten fuer die juedischen gebrauchten, moechte gar mancher wissen, welches das Julianische Datum der Kreuzigung Christi war, Dafuer hat ," Forscher m Zeitrechnungen eir2ugehen. Der Ver:rasser tut das in ausgiebigster Weise. Seine Kapitelueberschriften zeigen, dass er so ziemlich aIle alten Zeitrechnungen bespricht; ein etwas starrer Stoff, aber der Autor weiss durch Darstellungs-und Ausdrucksweise den Leser bei der Lektuere gefangenzuhalten. Wir sehen vor unsern Augen die Nabonassiche Aero. vorueberziehen, ebenso in etwas die Assyrisch-Babylonische. Es marschieren die roemischen Konsuln in langer Reihe daher. Auch die Seleuzidische Aera wird genuegend beachtet. Auf Caesars Kalenderverbesserung wird eingegangen, ebenfalls die wundervolle 28jaehrige Periode des Sonnensystems behandelt. Der juedische Kalender musste besprochen werden. So ist das Buch eine QueUe vielen wissenschaftlichen Materials, die jedoch h"1 klarer, durchsichtiger Weise ihre Wasser: spendet. -An Hand eines solchen umfangreichen Unterbaues erstrebt der Verfasser den Bau seiner Forschungen. Und dabei ist sonderlich als Fortschritt des Wissens zu betonen, dass er das Jahr der Kreuzigung Christi und das Jahr des Konsulats der Gemini wieder vereinigt als das 15. Jahr der Alleinherrschaft des Tiberius. Schon jahrhundertelang ist ja dies Jam fuer die Zeit der Kreuzigung Chrisii ausgeschaltet ~ w e s e n , da mEtr1; wie elllst i.rn 17. J2' mdert Pet D. fuer das .J