A history of Confirmation

We wondered about the origin of the term — “Confirmation.” When was it first used? What did it mean?

The first mention of Baptism by a Bishop appeared in early church literature about the year 200 AD. By then, the custom had taken hold that only Bishops had the authority to perform Baptism as the ultimate remission of sins.

Historical Note: In the early church, the term “Bishop” was used differently than we use it today. Then, a “Bishop” meant the leader of a particular group of Christians, which in the early days of the church was a relatively small group.

In time, Christian groups expanded in size, and the Bishop gradually became the leader of even greater numbers of Christians. Ultimately the Bishop oversaw a large area. Thus it became progressively more impractical for the Bishop to baptize everyone. Thus the authority to baptize in the name of the Bishop was delegated to the priests. The first change was that an infant would be baptized outside the church by a priest (in a free standing Baptistry), immediately be brought into the church to have this baptism “Confirmed” by the Bishop, and the infant’s first communion given.

In time as the numbers continued to grow, even this became impractical. This was resolved through a single, once a year service, in which all individuals baptized that year would come for the Bishop to “Confirm” the validity of what his priests had done.

Still later, the timing of Baptism and Confirmation of Baptism drew further apart. Now there could be many years — perhaps as long as 7 years — between Baptism and the Bishop’s “Confirmation” of Baptism. This interim time took on the role as a time of education in the Christian faith — and from this the concept of a “Confirmation Class” began.

During Reformation, Protestants began to separate from the idea that only a Bishop can baptize. Instead, baptism by the pastor alone was sufficient, and the “Confirmation of Baptism by someone else” was no longer required. “Confirmation” then took on another role. The baptized individual, now a person “come of age,” would go before their congregation to be tested publicly in their faith. (More recently the term “Affirmation of Baptism” has been associated with our contemporary practice of confirmation.) When baptized as an infant, others — parents and sponsors — took on the responsibility to care for the child’s growth in the Christian Faith. Now the persons themselves, as understanding young adults, make public “Confirmation” of their personal understanding and commitment to their faith.