No. 13 I�m teaching a confirmation class on Wednesday evenings right now. Is confirmation some kind of a supplement of baptism? Is there something I should be doing to help our confirmands better understand their baptism? >>PROFESSOR ROLAND ZIEGLER: Well, David, confirmation class has often been seen as the kind of instruction, the catechumens in the early church, when adult baptism was the norm was required from them before they got baptized. Now, with infant baptism, you have the instruction afterwards. Confirmation is in a way a strange thing. It's a very ingrained tradition in the Lutheran Church. But what it actually is and what its theological content is and how it's related to baptism is something that has shifted in times. Let's look at a little bit of the history of confirmation. Confirmation as a separate act developed out of the anointing as a part of the rite of baptism. Since Tertullion baptism was seen as a cleansing from sins, so is the negative part of baptism and anointing as the positive communication of the Spirit. So you had the cleansing and the gift of the Spirit. And these were distributed to two different acts, baptism proper and anointing. Later on in the western church, these were also separated by time. You were baptized as a baby. But you were confirmed later. And in the west only a bishop was able to confirm. There was the anointing. But there was also the laying on of hands. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, until today, baptism and what they call the sacrament of ***crismacian, that is the sacrament of anointing are combined at baptism itself. And every priest anoints. In the Middle Ages, confirmation was seen as the perfection of baptism. The opinion was that it completes baptism through the gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the Christians. Thomas Aquinas said that baptism gives the new life but then afterwards it needs to be strengthened. And therefore in the sacrament of confirmation, the fullness of the Spirit is given. And the definition later of the sacrament of confirmation in the degree for the Armenians in the Council of Florence of Ferrara in 1439 was that the Holy Spirit is given for strengthening so that the Christians can fight the good fight. We talked before when we talked about the sacraments in general that confirmation as one of the seven sacraments was rejected by Luther. He rejected it because he did not see any institution of confirmation by Christ himself. Luther did not form a purified rite of confirmation. Confirmation, which is such a part of our life in the Lutheran Church, actually was not introduced into written work until the 18th Century. The father of confirmation in the Lutheran Church is really Martin ***Gutsa, the reformer of ***Schnausboyg. He developed a cleansed or a Reformed rite of confirmation consisting out of a repetition of the baptismal vow, a blessing, the laying on of hands and the admission to the Lord's Supper. And he has a prayer that came in later on in many agendas. I found it for example in the old agenda of the Ohio Synod. Gutsa's prayer says: Receive the Holy Spirit to protect and defend you against all evil. To strengthen and help you in all good. From the merciful hand of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Melancthon thought that confirmation could be retained because of its educational value. It is an established form of instruction. And so he saw confirmation as consisting of a catechal examination and the confession of the creed and the laying on of hands. He counted it under the sacraments in the wider sense in 1535 but later on he rejected a sacramental understanding. What really fostered the spread of confirmation in the Lutheran Church was pietism. Pietism was a Reformed movement that tried to vivify the church. They saw the Lutheran Church kind of dead in their conventional Christianity. And confirmation was an ideal institution to try to convert the children to make them into living members of the church. Phillip Jakob Spener, the Father of pietism, saw confirmation as a remembrance of baptism and as a solemn pledge to fulfill the baptismal covenant. And from there comes this idea that in confirmation you say your yes to the baptismal covenant. So God said his yes at baptism. Now it is up to you to make it your own in confirmation. In pietism the vow became the central aspect of confirmation. As I said before, confirmation, for example, was introduced in Wittenberg only in the 18th Century. Before that you had instruction in the Catechism and examination. And when the candidate was seen to be fit, then the candidate was admitted to the Lord's Supper. But there was no formal confirmation. Since the 19th Century, confirmation has been a problem, especially in the state churches in Europe. Confirmation is designed to be the kind of adult yes to the church that now you vow to be a living member of a congregation. That you participate in it. That you actually do believe the Christian faith. But in the state churches where confirmation became a part of the tradition, it's just a part of growing up. It's almost a rite of passage. Well, the kids vowed that they would rather die than forsake the faith. But then of course they never show up. That's why this joke at least -- I think it's also in the states -- but in Germany is about the pastors who have bats in the tower and they say, "Well, what do you do to get rid of the bats?" And he says, "I simply confirm them and then they never show up again." It's a joke. But it's actually a sad reality in many of the state churches. So what do you do with confirmation? It seems to be not honest. And somebody like ***Sir Kickengog for example rallied against confirmation. Because he said: Well, you don't just trust a 14-year-old with $100. But you say: Of course, now he is mature enough to receive the body and blood of Christ. And this is all hypocrisy. So since the 19th Century you have many proposals to reform confirmation. For example that the blessing is separated from the vow. That you have a confirmation just as a blessing. But really the vow that you are intending to be a member of the congregation will be at a later, mature age. Or that you abolish the vow all together as it is done in many churches in Germany in the territorial churches. Or that you have confirmation later after puberty or before puberty. But overall there's no great change and confirmation just hangs on because it is a rite of passage. You're a 14-year-old so you're kind of no longer a child. And you're now a preadult or whatever you want to call it. And in some areas in Germany, I'm told in northern Germany, it was the custom that the male -- at least the male confirmands, they got their first taste of booze at their confirmation party. Now, in many areas now the admission to the Lord's Supper has been separated from confirmation. And also the new Lutheran service book gives a rite for early Communion that the confirmation children can commune actually before they are confirmed. If you look at the rite of confirmation in the Lutheran service book, it has the elements of the confession of faith. Then there is the vow where the confirmands vow to be a member of the congregation, that is to attend its services and live a Christian life and remain in this confession and church stedfastly. And the prayer for the strengthening of faith. So the Lutheran service book does not have the boot is a prayer that speaks of the impartation of the Holy Spirit, which is pretty close to a Roman Catholic understanding of confirmation. What the rite of confirmation in the Lutheran service book does not have is any statement about the admission to the Lord's table or that they now are full members of the congregation, which of course they are not. Because most congregations you have to be 18 to vote. So if you look at that history, we see there are many elements and different ways to look at confirmation. Is it simply instruction? Is it the occasion to get the kids to be converted? Is it the solemn pledge that now you were without any obligation? But it's kind of a Bar Mitzvah for the Lutherans. Now you're obliged to follow the life and the command of the church. We have to realize, again, that confirmation is an ecclesiastical rite, that is a rite established by the church. It is not mandated in Scripture. And as said the Lutheran Church in some areas did not have it until the 18th Century. It's so popular simply because well after 200 years everything has kind of a weight of its own just by inertia these days. And again as said, it is a rite of passage. It is the conclusion of the catechumens and used to be a public examination of the cantic humans so that it is established that they know the Catechism. And that there is the movement of confession there. Especially if it is the -- also the admission to the Lord's Supper. Because you have to make sure that the future communicants know what they receive. And that they actually believe what they receive. The tendency to separate admission and confirmation in a way empties confirmation. If you are admitted to the Lord's Supper before you are confirmed, what actually is the meaning of confirmation? Then you have to say: Well, we pray for the confirmation kids. That is fine. But the question then is: Is that a sufficient base for a special rite? The Holy Spirit is given in baptism. And of course we can always pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit. But one has to avoid the appearance that confirmation in any way complements baptism. Nevertheless, there is this connection between baptism and confirmation. Baptism is the foundation. And confirmation is an intensive period of instruction where the confirmands are led to appreciate what they have in baptism and also where they are to mature in their knowledge and also in their faith. So it's a good opportunity. And therefore, it is retained. Because otherwise, you wouldn't get these kids to attend for one year or two years instruction. Nevertheless, the problem remains that sometimes as a pastor, you might feel: Well, they pledged solemnly that they are members of the church. But are they serious about that? In such a case you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. You cannot look into their hearts and you cannot pry. But you have to tell the kids that: This is not a play. It's not about getting a party. And they shouldn't do it if they don't believe it. And there are always kids in confirmation class who'll opt out. And that is a decision that has to be respected. It's better to be an honest unbeliever than a hypocrite. Confirmation instruction is therefore an instruction in the baptismal life. It tries to lead the children to appreciate what they have received in baptism. On the other hand, it is a preparation for the reception of the Lord's Supper. It looks back to baptism and teaches the continual relevance of baptism. And it prepares for the reception of the Lord's Supper. If the Lord's Supper is received the Sunday after confirmation or it is received earlier is not a matter of great importance. Because the connection between confirmation and First Communion is just an ecclesiastical rule. There is, however, a practical problem when you go to a different congregation. Many congregations have in their Communion statement that you may commune when you are a confirmed member of an LCMS congregation in good standing. So you have to talk to the pastor before. Uniformity would certainly be a good thing. But I suppose who can live with that kind of difference?