{"id":2911,"date":"2016-11-01T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T00:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2911"},"modified":"2021-11-25T18:20:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T10:20:03","slug":"123-confirmation-a-sacrament-in-search-of-a-theology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2911","title":{"rendered":"163. Confirmation: A Sacrament in Search of a Theology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter said to them, \u201cRepent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/strong> [Acts<\/span> 2:38<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Confirmation is an important event amongst Catholics, as the celebration is a rite of passage to Christian maturity.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, to theologians, Confirmation is often dubbed \u201ca sacrament in search of a theology<\/em>\u201d. Why? Amongst the different Christian Churches, the majority do not consider Confirmation as a sacrament. Questions such as these are often raised: \u201cWhy do we need such a sacrament at all? What is it all about anyway? Is there any basis for calling it a sacrament?…\u201d The list of disapproving statements and questions goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n

No wonder when a middle-aged Catholic was asked to help out in the parish catechetical team to prepare Catholic school students for Confirmation, he came straight to us seeking appropriate literature to read and asking about topics and questions suitable for discussion with his charge of confirmands.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are of course many points on which the confirmands may appreciate clarification. What we shall do here is to briefly address three questions, amongst many others, which over the years we have heard raised by young Catholics preparing for Confirmation.<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Is Confirmation a Catholic invention with no basis in Scriptures?<\/span><\/p>\n

Spurred by the Protestant emphasis on the Bible as the only authentic source for Christian teachings and discipline, the first question commonly asked is whether the very \u201cCatholic\u201d sacrament of Confirmation has any Biblical basis at all?<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer is a resounding \u201cYes\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we look closely at the historical growth of the ancient church, we cannot fail to see that as the early faith community grew in numbers and spread in geographical locations, it became increasingly impossible for the early apostles to personally attend to the baptism of new converts. The danger was soon apparent that new converts baptized in diverse locales could lose a sense of connection with the apostles and the crucial sense of belonging to \u201cone Church\u201d. Thus the practice soon grew that the apostles would, at a later time after the new converts had been baptised, visit them and lay hands on them. Let us be clear. We are not<\/em> claiming that the present-day practice of administering a separate, autonomous, sacrament of Confirmation is a precise duplication of the practice in the ancient Church. Indeed, that is not the case. What we do<\/em> insist, however, is that Scripture does attest to a definitive scriptural warrant for distinguishing the bestowal of the Holy Spirit through water-baptism conducted by one who was not an apostle and<\/em>, later, the subsequent \u201claying on of hands\u201d by one who was. Hence, it is legitimate to claim, and the Catholic Church does so claim, that the origins of the present-day practice concerning Confirmation as a separate sacrament may be traced to the New Testament. Acts 19:1-7 and Acts 8:14-17, amongst other references, are germane to this question.<\/span><\/p>\n