- A History of Confirmation Some say that the sacrament is a confirmation of faith, a pledge of sorts to God, and a sign of adulthood in the Church. The problem with this line of thinking is that it makes the sacrament something that we do to God where, in fact, sacraments are God's actions to us. Confirmation is not a celebration of what we do and God responds and it is not an event at which we confirm anything to God; it is about what God does and how we respond to God.
- Confirmation was once a part of the baptismal ritual; it took place immediately after baptism, sealing in the Holy Spirit and anointing the new Christian with a threefold ministry as priest, prophet, and king. The specific oil that is used is called chrism. It is only used in two sacraments: Confirmation and Holy Orders; both are sacraments in which the person is anointed for ministry. Therefore, Confirmation can be seen as an anointing for ministry, for work to build the kingdom of God, not graduation from church.
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