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{{Other uses|Confirmation (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=JuneApril 20202024}}
 
[[File:Confirmation in the lutheran church.jpg|right|thumb|upright|A [[stained glass]] representation of a Lutheran confirmation. An [[Elder (Christianity)|elder]] lays hands on the confirmand.]]
In Christian denominations that practice [[infant baptism]], '''confirmation''' is seen as the sealing of the [[covenant (religion)|covenant]] created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as '''confirmands'''. For adults, it is an [[wikt:affirmation|affirmation]] of [[Religious belief|belief]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church -– IntraText - III. The Effects of Confirmation |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3S.HTM |access-date=2023-05-11 May 2023 |website=www.vatican.vaThe Holy See |at=1303 |archive-date=17 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917135757/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3S.HTM |url-status=live }}</ref> ItThe ceremony typically involves [[laying on of hands]].
 
[[Catholicism]] views confirmation as a [[sacrament]]. The sacrament is called [[chrismation]] in the [[Eastern Christianity]]. In the East it is conferred immediately after [[baptism]]. In [[Western Christianity]], confirmation is ordinarily administered when a child reaches the [[Age of reason (canon law)|age of reason]] or early adolescence. When an adult is baptized, the sacrament is conferred immediately after baptism in the same ceremony. Among those Christians who practice teen-aged confirmation, the practice may be perceived, secondarily, as a "[[coming of age]]" [[Rite of passage|rite]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/a/stpaulcatholic.net/parish/sacraments/theology-of-confirmation|access-date=6 October 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429080059/https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/confirmation/https://sites.google.com/a/stpaulcatholic.net/parish/sacraments/theology-of-confirmation|archive-date=29 April 2016|title=Glossary &#124;|website= Episcopal Church }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week446/belief.html |titlework=Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . BELIEF|title=Belief & PRACTICEPractice: Confirmation . |date=July 13, 2001 &#124; PBS |websitepublisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310153727/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week446/belief.html |archive-date=10 March 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
In many [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations, such as the [[Anglican]], [[Lutheran]], [[Methodist]] and [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] traditions, confirmation is a [[Rite (Christianity)|rite]] that often includes a [[profession of faith]] by an already baptized person. Confirmation is required by Lutherans, Anglicans and other traditional Protestant denominations for full membership in the respective church.<ref name="LB1921">{{cite book |title=The Lutheran World Almanac and Annual Encyclopedia for 1921 |date=1921 |publisher=Lutheran Bureau |page=68 |language=English |quote=In this connection it should be stated that as it is the custom of the Lutheran Church to receive into full membership only those who have been confirmed}}</ref><ref name="Dada2014">{{cite book|last=Dada|first=Adelowo, E.|title=Perspectives in Religious Studies: Volume II|date= 2014|publisher=HEBN Publishers|isbn=978-9780814465|page=209|quote=Confirmation in the Anglican Communion is the laying on of hands (of the Bishop) upon those who are baptised and have come to years of discretion. In this case, it involves those baptised both at infancy and adulthood. It is the attainment of this status, among other conditions, that determines, in the Anglican Church, full membership of the Church and eligibility to be admitted to the Lord's Table, and to enjoy certain rights of the Church.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/India/CSI_Confirmation.html|title=Order of Service for the Reception of Baptized Persons into the Full Membership of the Church commonly called Conformation|year=1950|publisher=Society of Archbishop Justus|access-date=7 June 2017|archive-date=24 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624120128/http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/India/CSI_Confirmation.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In Catholic theology, by contrast, it is the sacrament of baptism that confers membership, while "reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal [[means of grace|grace]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3N.HTM|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText|website=vatican.va|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=9 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609042345/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3N.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> The Catholic and Methodist denominations teach that in confirmation, the Holy Spirit strengthens a baptized individual for their faith journey.<ref name="MCGB2014"/><ref name="Cavadini2018">{{cite web |last1=Cavadini |first1=John C. |title=Confirmation strengthens our identity as children of God |url=https://catholicphilly.com/2018/01/catholic-spirituality/confirmation-strengthens-our-identity-as-children-of-god/ |publisher=Catholic Philly |access-date=28 March 2021 |language=English |date=17 July 2018 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127081036/https://catholicphilly.com/2018/01/catholic-spirituality/confirmation-strengthens-our-identity-as-children-of-god/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
Confirmation is not practicedpractised in [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Anabaptists|Anabaptist]] and other groups that teach [[believer's baptism]]. Thus, the sacrament or rite of confirmation is administered to those being received from those aforementioned groups, in addition to those converts from non-Christian religions.
 
[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) does not practice infant baptism, but individuals can be baptized after they reach 8 years old (the "[[age of accountability]]"). [[Confirmation (Latter Day Saints)|Confirmation in the LDS Church]] occurs shortly following baptism, which is not considered complete or fully efficacious until confirmation is received.<ref name="Archived copy">{{Cite web |url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Confirmation |title=Confirmation -– the Encyclopedia of Mormonism |access-date=16 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131128/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Confirmation |archive-date=17 January 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
There is an analogous ceremony also called confirmation in [[Reform Judaism]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Various [[Secularism|secular]] organizations also offer [[Secular coming-of-age ceremony|secular coming-of-age ceremonies]] as an alternative to Christian confirmation, while [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian Universalists]] have a similar [[Coming of Age (Unitarian Universalism)|Coming of Age ceremony]].
There is an analogous ceremony also called confirmation in [[Reform Judaism]].
 
==Scriptural foundation==
{{Original research section|date=April 2024}}
The roots of confirmation are found in the Church of the [[New Testament]]. In the [[Gospel of John]] chapter 14, Christ speaks of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles (John 14:15–26).<ref>{{bibleverse|John|14:15–26}}</ref> Later, after his [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]], Jesus breathed upon them and they received the Holy Spirit (John 20:22),<ref>{{bibleverse|John|20:22}}</ref> a process completed on the day of [[Pentecost]] (Acts 2:1–4).<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|2:1–4}}</ref> In Christianity, this Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit was held as the sign of [[Messianic Age|the messianic age]] foretold by the prophets (cf. Ezekiel 36:25–27;<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezekiel|36:25–27}}</ref> Joel 3:1–2).<ref>{{bibleverse|Joel|3:1–2}}</ref> Its arrival was proclaimed by the [[Saint Peter|Apostle Peter]]. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God" (Acts 2:11; Cf. 2:17–18).<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|2:11}}; {{bibleverse|Acts|2:17–18}}</ref> After this point, the [[New Testament]] records the apostles bestowing the Holy Spirit upon others through the laying on of hands.
 
Three texts make it certain that a laying on of hands for the imparting of the Spirit – performed after the [[Baptism|water-bath]] and as a complement to this bath – existed already in the earliest apostolic times. These texts are Acts 8:4–20<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|8:4–20}}</ref> and 19:1–7,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|19:1–7}}</ref> and Hebrews 6:1–6.<ref>{{bibleverse|Hebrews|6:1–6}}</ref>
 
In the [[Acts of the Apostles]] 8:14–17, different "ministers" are named for the two actions. It is not [[Philip the Evangelist|deacon Philip]], the baptiser, but only the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostle]]s who were able to impart the [[pneuma]] through the laying on of hands:
 
{{blockquote|Now when the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] in Jerusalem heard that [[Samaria]] had accepted the word of God, they sent them [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and [[Apostle John|John]], who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the holy Spirit.|Acts 8:14–17}}
 
Further on in the text, connection between the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gesture of laying on of hands appears even more clearly. Acts 8:18–19 introduces the request of [[Simon Magus|Simon the Magician]] in the following way: "When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands{{nbsp}}[...]". In Acts 19, baptism of the disciples is mentioned in quite general terms, without the minister being identified. Referring to 1 Corinthians 1:17,<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|1:17}}</ref> it can be presumed that Paul left the action of baptising to others. However, Acts 19:6<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|19:6}}</ref> then expressly states that it was Apostle Paul who laid his hands upon the newly baptised.{{efn|Though the author of Acts was likely an admirer of Paul, scholarly consensus is that the author "does not share Paul's own view of himself as an apostle; his own theology is considerably different from Paul's on key points and does not represent Paul's own views accurately";<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boring |first=M. Eugene |title=An Introduction to the New Testament: History, Literature, Theology |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leFrgkyEtusC&pg=PA556 |isbn=978-0-664-25592-3|page=590}}</ref> it is also posited that the author of Acts did not have access to any of [[Authorship of the Pauline epistles|Paul's authentic letters]], such as 1 Corinthians, which is widely considered to have been authored by Paul himself,<ref>{{cite book |last=Wall |first=Robert |title=New Interpreter's Bible |volume=X |publisher=Abingdon Press |date=2002 |page=373}}</ref> thus explaining the discrepancy between views.}} Hebrews 6:1–6 distinguishes "the teaching about baptisms" from the teaching about "the laying on of hands". The difference may be understood in the light of the two passages in Acts 8 and 19.<ref>{{cite book | author = B. Neunheuser OSB | title = Baptism and Confirmation | place = Freiburg – London | publisher= Herder – Burns & Oates| year = 1964 | pages = 42–52| series = The Herder History of Dogma}}</ref>
 
==Christian denominational views==
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*it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross:
 
{{smallblockquote|Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts.}}|Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1302–1303<ref>[httpsstyle=font-size://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3S.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1302–1303]</ref>inherit;}}
|Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1302–1303<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText - III. The Effects of Confirmation |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3S.HTM |access-date=11 May 2023 |website=The Holy See |at=Paragraphs 1302–1303 |archive-date=17 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917135757/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3S.HTM |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
 
In the [[Latin Church]] of the Catholic Church, the sacrament is customarily conferred only on persons old enough to understand it, and the ordinary minister of confirmation is a [[bishop]]. "If necessity so requires", the diocesan bishop may grant specified [[priest]]s the faculty to administer the sacrament, although normally he is to administer it himself or ensure that it is conferred by another bishop.<ref name="intratext1">{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P31.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law: text – IntraText CT|website=intratext.com|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=8 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208064642/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P31.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the law itself confers the same faculty on the following:
Line 53 ⟶ 55:
in respect of those in danger of death, the parish priest or indeed any priest.<ref name="intratext1"/>}}
 
"According to the ancient practice maintained in the Roman liturgy, an adult is not to be baptized unless he receives Confirmation immediately afterward, provided no serious obstacles exist."<ref>''Christian Initiation of Adults'', 34</ref> Administration of the two sacraments, one immediately after the other, to adults is normally done by the bishop of the diocese (generally at the [[Easter Vigil]]) since "the baptism of adults, at least of those who have completed their fourteenth year, is to be referred to the Bishop, so that he himself may confer it if he judges this appropriate"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2V.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law: text – IntraText CT|website=intratext.com|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=13 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113214345/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2V.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> However, if the bishop does not confer the baptism, then it devolves on the priest whose office it then is to confer both sacraments, since, "in addition to the bishop, the law gives the faculty to confirm to the following,{{nbsp}}[...] priests who, in virtue of an office which they lawfully hold, baptize an adult or a child old enough for catechesis or receive a validly baptized adult into full communion with the Church."<ref>Rite of Confirmation, 7</ref>
 
In [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], the usual minister of this sacrament is the parish priest, using olive oil consecrated by a bishop (i.e., ''[[chrism]]'') and administering the sacrament immediately after baptism. This corresponds exactly to the practice of the early Church, when at first those receiving baptism were mainly adults, and of the non-Latin Catholic Eastern Churches.
 
{{blockquote|The practice of the Eastern Churches gives greater emphasis to the unity of Christian initiation. That of the Latin Church more clearly expresses the communion of the new Christian with the bishop as guarantor and servant of the unity, catholicity and apostolicity of his Church, and hence the connection with the apostolic origins of Christ's Church.<ref name="vatican1"/>}}
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After the [[Fourth Lateran Council]], Communion, which continued to be given only after confirmation, was to be administered only on reaching the age of reason. Some time after the 13th century, the age of confirmation and Communion began to be delayed further, from seven, to twelve and to fifteen.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=21K7EEXAivMC&pg=PA91 Kay Lynn Isca, ''Catholic Etiquette'']{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Our Sunday Visitor 1997 {{ISBN|0-87973-590-2}}), p. 91</ref> In the 18th century, in France the sequence of sacraments of initiation was changed. Bishops started to impart confirmation only after the first Eucharistic communion. The reason was no longer the busy calendar of the bishop, but the bishop's will to give adequate instruction to the youth. The practice lasted until Pope [[Leo XIII]] in 1897 asked to restore the primary order and to celebrate confirmation back at the age of reason, a change that lasted less than two decades. In 1910, his successor, Pope [[Pius X]], showing concern for the easy access to the Eucharist for children, in his Letter {{Lang|la|Quam Singulari}} lowered the age of first communion to seven. That was the origin of the widespread custom in parishes to organise the First Communion for children at {{Clarify|text=2nd grade and confirmation in middle or high school|reason=what ages are meant? Grades and types of school will vary widely between countries|date=November 2021}}.<ref name = SAM>{{cite journal | author = Samuel J. Aquila | title = Confirmation as a Sacrament of Initiation | url = http://www.ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/sacinitiat.HTM | journal = L'Osservatore Romano | access-date = 4 July 2018 | volume = 2012 (14), 4 April | page = 5 | archive-date = 24 September 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180924182933/http://www.ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/sacinitiat.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref>
 
The 1917 Code of Canon Law, while recommending that confirmation be delayed until about seven years of age, allowed it be given at an earlier age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CIC 1917: text -– IntraText CT |url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0813/_P2G.HTM |access-date=2023-05-11 May 2023 |website=www.intratext.com |archive-date=30 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930035241/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0813/_P2G.HTM |url-status=live }}</ref> Only on 30 June 1932 was official permission given to change the traditional order of the three sacraments of Christian initiation: the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments then allowed, where necessary, that confirmation be administered {{em|after}} [[first Communion|first Holy Communion]]. This novelty, originally seen as exceptional, became more and more the accepted practice. Thus, in the mid-20th century, confirmation began to be seen as an occasion for professing personal commitment to the faith on the part of someone approaching adulthood.
 
However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1308) warns: "Although Confirmation is sometimes called the 'sacrament of Christian maturity,' we must not confuse adult faith with the adult age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited election and does not need 'ratification' to become effective."<ref name="usccb1">{{cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2.htm|title=Catechism|website=usccb.org|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=2 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802202711/http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
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====Effects of confirmation====
The Catholic Church and some [[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglo-Catholics]] teach that, like baptism, confirmation [[sacramental character|marks the recipient permanently]], making it impossible to receive the sacrament twice. It accepts as valid a confirmation conferred within churches, such as the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], whose [[Holy Orders]] it sees as valid through the [[apostolic succession]] of their bishops. But it considers it necessary to administer the sacrament of confirmation, in its view for the only time, to Protestants who are admitted to full [[Communion (Christian)|communion]] with the Catholic Church.
 
One of the effects of the sacrament is that "it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross" (.<ref>''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 1303).</ref><ref name="usccb1"/> This effect was described by the Council of Trent as making the confirmed person "a soldier of Christ".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/trent/tsacr-c.htm|title=THE CATECHISM OF TRENT: The Sacraments – Confirmation|website=cin.org|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=28 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828093758/http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/trent/tsacr-c.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
The same passage of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' also mentions, as an effect of confirmation, that "it renders our bond with the Church more perfect". This mention stresses the importance of participation in the Christian community.
 
The "soldier of Christ" imagery was used, as far back as 350, by St Cyril of Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite web| last = Sullivan| first = Tom| title = Sacrament of Confirmation (What is it all about?)| website = EWTN| access-date = 3 March 2011| url = http://www.ewtn.com/library/CATECHSM/CONFIRM1.HTM| archive-date = 5 June 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110605043057/http://www.ewtn.com/library/CATECHSM/CONFIRM1.HTM| url-status = live}}</ref> In this connection, the touch on the cheek that the bishop gave while saying "{{Lang|la|Pax tecum}}" ({{Gloss|Peace be with you}}) to the person he had just confirmed was interpreted in the Roman Pontifical as a slap, a reminder to be brave in spreading and defending the faith: "{{Lang|la|Deinde leviter eum in maxilla caedit, dicens: Pax tecum}}" ({{Gloss|Then he strikes him lightly on the cheek, saying: Peace be with you}}). When, in application of the [[Second Vatican Council]]'s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sacrosanctum concilium |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html |access-date=2023-05-11 May 2023 |website=www.vatican.va |archive-date=21 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221180735/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the confirmation rite was revised in 1971, mention of this gesture was omitted. However, the French and Italian translations, indicating that the bishop should accompany the words "Peace be with you" with "a friendly gesture" (French text) or "the sign of peace" (Italian text), explicitly allow a gesture such as the touch on the cheek, to which they restore its original meaning. This is in accord with the Introduction to the rite of confirmation, 17, which indicates that the episcopal conference may decide "to introduce a different manner for the minister to give the sign of peace after the anointing, either to each individual or to all the newly confirmed together".
 
====Tradition====
In some regions it is customary for the person being confirmed to choose the name of a saint, which they adopt as their confirmation name. The saint whose name is taken is henceforth considered to be a [[patron saint]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
 
 
===Eastern Churches===
Line 101 ⟶ 104:
The Catholic Church does not confirm converts to Catholicism who have been chrismated in a non-Catholic Eastern church, considering that the sacrament has been validly conferred and [[sacramental character|may not be repeated]].
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] the sacrament may be conferred more than once and it is customary to receive returning or repentant apostates by repeating chrismation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Learn about the Orthodox Christian Faith -– Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America -– Orthodox Church |url=https://www.goarch.org/library |access-date=2023-05-11 May 2023 |website=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |language=en-US |archive-date=19 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119113153/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7101 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eastern Orthodox Christian Baptism -– explanation, service, scriptures |url=https://www.orthodox.net/articles/baptism.html |access-date=2023-05-11 May 2023 |website=www.orthodox.net |archive-date=11 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511173150/https://www.orthodox.net/articles/baptism.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
===The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints===
When discussing confirmation, [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) uses the term "''ordinance"'' owing to their origins in a Protestant environment, but the actual doctrine describing their ordinances and their effects is sacramental.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Ordinances|title=Ordinances -– the Encyclopedia of Mormonism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117012144/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Ordinances|archive-date=17 January 2018|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref> Church ordinances are understood as administering grace and must be conducted by properly ordained clergy members<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Administration_of_Ordinances#Administration_of_Ordinances|title=Ordinances -– the Encyclopedia of Mormonism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117012117/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Administration_of_Ordinances#Administration_of_Ordinances|archive-date=17 January 2018|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref> through [[Apostolic succession (LDS Church)|apostolic succession]] reaching back through Peter to Christ, although the line of authority differs from Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Priesthood|title=Priesthood -– the Encyclopedia of Mormonism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117012128/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Priesthood|archive-date=17 January 2018|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Authority|title=Authority -– the Encyclopedia of Mormonism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117011939/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Authority|archive-date=17 January 2018|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref> Baptism by water is understood as representing the death of the old person and their resurrection from that death into a new life in Christ.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Baptism|title=Baptism -– the Encyclopedia of Mormonism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117012139/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Baptism|archive-date=17 January 2018|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref> Through baptism by water, sin, and guilt are washed away as the old sinner dies and the new child of Christ emerges. Confirmation is understood as being the baptism by fire wherein the Holy Spirit enters into the individual, purges them of the effects of the sin from their previous life (the guilt and culpability of which were already washed away), and introduces them into the church as a new person in Christ. Through confirmation, the individual receives the [[Confirmation (Latter Day Saints)|Gift of the Holy Ghost]], granting the individual the permanent companionship of the Holy Ghost as long as the person does not willfullywilfully drive him away through sin.<ref name="Archived copy2">{{Cite web|url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Confirmation|title=Confirmation -– the Encyclopedia of Mormonism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131128/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Confirmation|archive-date=17 January 2018|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref>
 
The ceremony is significantly simpler than in Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches and is performed by an ordained clergyman as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/duties-and-blessings-of-the-priesthood-basic-manual-for-priesthood-holders-part-b/priesthood-and-church-government/lesson-5-performing-priesthood-ordinances?lang=eng|title=Lesson 5: Performing Priesthood Ordinances|date=7 January 2011|publisher=churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=15 January 2019|archive-date=23 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123145045/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/duties-and-blessings-of-the-priesthood-basic-manual-for-priesthood-holders-part-b/priesthood-and-church-government/lesson-5-performing-priesthood-ordinances?lang=eng|url-status=live}}</ref>
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Many Anglicans, especially [[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglo-Catholics]], count the rite as one of seven sacraments. While most provinces of the Anglican Communion do not make provision for ministers other than bishops to administer confirmation, [[presbyters]] can be authorized to do so in certain South Asian provinces, which are [[United and uniting churches|united churches]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csimichigan.org/PDF/CONFIRMATION.pdf|title=e.g. The Church of South India, Book of Common Worship (2004)|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=8 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508133936/http://www.csimichigan.org/PDF/CONFIRMATION.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, the American [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] recognizes that "those who have previously made a mature public commitment in another Church may be received by the laying on of hands by a Bishop of this Church, rather than confirmed."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.episcopalchurch.org/files/documents/2015_candc.pdf|title=Canons of the General Convention 2015, Title I, Canon 17, Section 1(c)|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=10 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110184220/https://www.episcopalchurch.org/files/documents/2015_candc.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, at its General Convention in 2015 a resolution advancing presbyteral confirmation was referred to committee for further review.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://extranet.generalconvention.org/staff/files/download/15664|title=Journal of the 78th General Convention, 371|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=17 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017051212/https://extranet.generalconvention.org/staff/files/download/15664|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
"[T]he renewal of the baptismal vows, which is part of the Anglican Confirmation service, is in no way necessary to Confirmation and can be done more than once.{{nbsp}}[...] When Confirmation is given early, candidates may be asked to make a fresh renewal of vows when they approach adult life at about eighteen."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.katapi.org.uk/ChristianFaith/LVI.htm|title=The Christian Faith: Ch 56- Confirmation|website=katapi.org.uk|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=2 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602044430/http://www.katapi.org.uk/ChristianFaith/LVI.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The 1662 ''[[Book of Common Prayer (1662)|Book of Common Prayer]]'' of the [[Church of England]] employs the phrase "ratify and confirm" with respect to these vows which has led to the common conception of confirmation as the renewal of baptismal vows. While such a view closely aligns to the doctrine of confirmation held by [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], the dominant Anglican position is perhaps better evidenced in the attempt to replace "ratify and confirm" with "ratify and confess" in the [[Book of Common Prayer (1928, England)|proposed 1928 prayer book]], which was defeated in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] 14 June of that year.
 
===Methodist Churches===
In the [[Methodist Church]], asconfirmation withis defined by the Anglican[[Articles Communionof Religion (Methodist)|Articles of Religion]] as one those "Commonly called Sacraments but not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/who-we-are/baptisms-weddings-and-funerals/baptism-and-confirmation|title=Baptism and Confirmation|year=2014|publisher=The Methodist Church in Britain|quote=There is no obvious difference in understanding, for example, between the Methodist Church and the Church of England about Confirmation itself.|access-date=23 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707201151/http://www.methodist.org.uk/who-we-are/baptisms-weddings-and-funerals/baptism-and-confirmation|archive-date=7 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> confirmation is defined by the [[Articles of Religion (Methodist)|Articles of Religion]] as one those "Commonly called Sacraments but not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rethinkbishop.com/tag/the-united-methodist-church/|title=Where The Line Is Drawn: Ordination and Sexual Orientation in the UMC|last=Pruitt|first=Kenneth|date=22 November 2013|publisher=Rethink Bishop|access-date=27 April 2014|quote=Sacraments for the UMC include both Baptism and Eucharist. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions count five more, which many Protestants, including the UMC, acknowledge as sacramental: Confession/Absolution, Holy Matrimony, Confirmation/Chrismation, Holy Orders/Ordination, and Anointing/Unction.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428000914/http://rethinkbishop.com/tag/the-united-methodist-church/|archive-date=28 April 2014}}</ref><ref name="Thompson2010">{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Andrew C. |title=Generation Rising: A Future with Hope for The United Methodist Church |date=1 October 2010 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=9781426731242 |page=93 |quote=Meanwhile, we can also say that confirmation is sacramental: it is a means of grace (if not an actual sacrament) in which God has been known to show up – and thus it has importance for both our justification and sanctification.}}</ref><ref name="Bicknell2008">{{cite book|last=Bicknell|first=E. J.|title=A Theological Introduction to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, Third Edition|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781556356827|page=359|quote=Then it proceeds ''Those five, commonly called Sacraments, that is to say Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for the Sacraments of the Gospel.'' We notice that the Article does not deny to them the name sacraments. 'Commonly called' is not in the language of the Prayer-Book necessarily derogatory. We find, ''e.g.'' 'The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birth-day of Christ, commonly called "Christmas day".' All that the Article insists is that these rites are not to be counted equal to the other two.}}</ref> also known as the "[[Anglican sacraments|five lesser sacraments]]".<ref name="Blunt1891">{{cite book|last=Blunt|first=John Henry|title=Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology|year=1891|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co.|page=670}}</ref> The Methodist theologian [[John William Fletcher]] stated that "it was a custom of the Apostles and elders in the primitive Church, adopted by our own church, to pray that young Believers might be filled with the Spirit through the laying on of hands."<ref name="Wood2002">{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Laurence W.|title=The Meaning of Pentecost in Early Methodism|date=23 September 2002|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9781461673200|page=339}}</ref> As such, the ''Methodist Worship Book'' declares that:
 
{{blockquote|In Confirmation, those who have been baptized declare their faith in Christ and are Strengthened by the Holy Spirit for continuing discipleship. Confirmation reminds us that we are baptized and that God continues to be at work in our lives: we respond by affirming that we belong to Christ and to the whole People of God. At a Service of Confirmation, baptized Christians are also received into membership of the Methodist Church and take their place as such in a local congregation.<ref name="MCGB2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/who-we-are/baptisms-weddings-and-funerals/baptism-and-confirmation|title=Baptism and Confirmation|year=2014|publisher=The Methodist Church in Britain|access-date=23 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707201151/http://www.methodist.org.uk/who-we-are/baptisms-weddings-and-funerals/baptism-and-confirmation|archive-date=7 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>|title=Baptism and Confirmation, The Methodist Church in Britain}}
 
''By Water and Spirit'', an official United Methodist publication, states that "it should be emphasized that Confirmation is what the Holy Spirit does. Confirmation is a divine action, the work of the Spirit empowering a person 'born through water and the Spirit' to 'live as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ'."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/by-water-and-the-spirit-a-united-methodist-understanding-of-baptism|title=By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism|year=2008|website=The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church|publisher=The United Methodist Church|access-date=17 May 2014|archive-date=20 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020223017/http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/by-water-and-the-spirit-a-united-methodist-understanding-of-baptism|url-status=live}}</ref> AsThe withMethodist itstheologian Anglican[[John patrimony,William inFletcher]] Methodism,saw confirmation isas a [[means of grace]].<ref name="Wood2002">{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Laurence W.|title=The Meaning of Pentecost in Early Methodism|date=23 September 2002|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9781461673200|page=339}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=An Anglican-Methodist Covenant|year=2001|publisher=Church House Publishing|isbn=9781858522180|page=41|quote=Fundamentally, however, as our liturgies show, confirmation is regarded by both churches as a means of grace within the total process of Christian initiation. For both churches, confirmation includes the reaffirmation of the baptismal promises by the candidate, accompanied by the prayer with the laying on of hands that God will strengthen the candidate in his or her discipleship through the work of the Holy Spirit.}}</ref> Furthermore, confirmation is the individual's first public affirmation of the grace of God in baptism and the acknowledgment of the [[Born again (Christianity)|acceptance of that grace by faith]].<ref>{{cite book|title=We Believe |year=2007|publisher=Bristol House|isbn=978-1885224064}}</ref> For those baptized as infants, it often occurs when youth enter their 6th through 8th grade years, but it may occur earlier or later.<ref>{{cite web
| title = At what age are children confirmed?
| publisher = [[United Methodist Church]]
| url = http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1360
| access-date = 30 September 2013
| archive-date = 24 February 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120224143638/http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1360
| url-status = live
}}</ref> For youth and adults who are joining the Church, "those who are baptized are also confirmed, remembering that our ritual reflects the ancient unity of baptism, confirmation (laying on of hands with prayer), and Eucharist."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/what-is-the-appropriate-age-for-baptism-and-for-confirmation|title=What Is the Appropriate Age for Baptism and for Confirmation?|year=1996|publisher=The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church|quote=What if a youth or adult has not been baptized? Can he or she be part of the "confirmation preparation"? Yes, the unbaptized can share in the same experiences. By ''Water and the Spirit'' puts it this way: Youth who were not baptized as infants share in the same period of preparation for profession of Christian faith. For them, it is nurture for baptism, for becoming members of the Church, and for confirmation. Those who are baptized are also confirmed, remembering that our ritual reflects the ancient unity of baptism, confirmation (laying on of hands with prayer), and Eucharist. "The ritual of the baptismal covenant included in The United Methodist Hymnal makes clear that the first and primary confirming act of the Holy Spirit is in connection with and immediately follows baptism." (By Water and the Spirit)|access-date=4 April 2019|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404124018/https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/what-is-the-appropriate-age-for-baptism-and-for-confirmation|url-status=live}}</ref> Candidates to be confirmed, known as confirmands, take a class which covers Christian doctrine, theology, Methodist Church history, stewardship, basic Bible study and other topics.<ref>{{cite book|title=We Believe|url=http://www.bristolhouseltd.com/we-believe-student/|access-date=17 May 2014|year=2007|publisher=Bristol House|quote=Confirmation classes provide a great opportunity to give students a broad view of basic Christian beliefs including the characteristics of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the importance and nature of the Bible; the need to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation; and the significance of the church. We Believe Student includes these topics as well as general church history and the responsibilities of discipleship and church membership. It offers students a basic but thorough understanding of what it means to be a Christian in the United Methodist tradition.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517120611/http://www.bristolhouseltd.com/we-believe-student/|archive-date=17 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
While the Holy Spirit strengthens the believer in confirmation, in Methodist theology, it is though [[entire sanctification]] that a believer is [[Baptism_with_the_Holy_Spirit#Methodism_(inclusive_of_the_holiness_movement)|baptized (filled) with the Holy Spirit]], thus being made perfect in love and wholly devoted to God, cleansed of original sin (the carnal nature), and empowered to accomplish all to which they are called.<ref name="UMC2012">{{cite web |title=Guidelines: The UMC and the Charismatic Movement |url=http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/guidelines-the-umc-and-the-charismatic-movement |publisher=[[The United Methodist Church]] |access-date=31 July 2019 |language=en |date=2012 |quote=The Methodists were also first to coin the phrase baptism of the Holy Spirit as applied to a second and sanctifying grace (experience) of God. (Cf. John Fletcher of Madeley, Methodism's earliest formal theologian.) The Methodists meant by their "baptism" something different from the Pentecostals, but the view that this is an experience of grace separate from and after salvation was the same. |archive-date=31 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731112659/http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/guidelines-the-umc-and-the-charismatic-movement |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="PHC2000">{{cite web|url=http://www.pilgrimholinesschurch.org/doctrine.htm|title=Doctrine|date=15 December 2000|publisher=Pilgrim Holiness Church of New York, Inc.|language=en|access-date=31 May 2018|archive-date=2 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502115615/http://www.pilgrimholinesschurch.org/doctrine.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> John Fletcher saw the attainment of entire sanctification as being the goal of the vows made at the ordinance of confirmation.<ref name="Wood2002"/> [[John Wesley]] laid emphasis "upon a personal, non-ceremonial experience of sanctifying grace" and this second work of grace—entire sanctification—distinguishes Methodism.<ref name="Wood2002"/>
 
===Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Continental Reformed Churches===
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===Irvingian Churches===
In the [[New Apostolic Church]], the largest of the [[Catholic Apostolic Church|Irvingian]] denominations, Confirmation is a rite that "strengthens the confirmands in their endeavour to keep their vow to profess Jesus Christ in word and deed.".<ref name="NAC"/> Confirmation is celebrated within the Divine Service and in it, confirmands take the following vow:<ref name="NAC">{{cite web |title=The Catechism of the New Apostolic Church |date=18 December 2020 |url=https://nak.org/en/abouttheNAC/catechism?_ld=1&id=b02f8881-fb9e-4ffd-abd7-8bee0e4368ff |publisher=[[New Apostolic Church]] |access-date=27 May 2021 |language=English |archive-date=27 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527021659/https://nak.org/en/abouttheNAC/catechism?_ld=1&id=b02f8881-fb9e-4ffd-abd7-8bee0e4368ff |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{quotation|I renounce Satan and all his work and ways, and surrender myself to You, O triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in belief, obedience, and the earnest resolution to remain faithful to You until my end. Amen.}}
 
Following the recitation of the vow, "young Christians receive the confirmation blessing, which is dispensed upon them through laying on of hands.".<ref name="NAC"/>
 
===United Protestant Churches===
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Several secular, mainly [[secular humanism|Humanist]], organizations direct [[civil confirmation]]s for older children, as a statement of their [[life stance]] that is an alternative to traditional religious ceremonies for children of that age.
 
Some [[atheist state|atheist regimes]] have as a matter of policy fostered the replacement of Christian rituals such as confirmation with non-religious ones. In the historically Protestant [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany), for example, "the {{lang|de|[[Jugendweihe]]}} (youth dedication) gradually supplanted the Christian practice of Confirmation."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Germany – Religion |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4909.html |access-date=2023-05-11 May 2023 |website=www.country-data.com |archive-date=25 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325114341/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4909.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A concept that first appeared in 1852, the {{Lang|de|Jugendweihe}} is described as "a solemn initiation marking the transition from youth to adulthood that was developed in opposition to Protestant and Catholic Churches' Confirmation."{{CN|date=May 2023}}
 
==See also==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation"