In Reformed theology or Reformed churches what does the confirmation "ceremony" do?

Question

When I was a baby I was baptized in a Reformed church descended from the Dutch Reformed Church. I still have my certificate of baptism. Then I went to Sunday school with other kids in the neighborhood.

When I was in middle school, I went to catechizing class taught by the pastor along with the other Sunday school kids my age. After about a year, there was a public confirmation ceremony (part of a regular Sunday service) where I received another certificate. From then on, I became an official member of the church and I needed to go to the "adult" service.

I didn't know much about Reformed theology at the time. I didn't even know that my church's theology was "Reformed". I found out later that the pastor recommended Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology if I wanted to learn more, and that's how I knew that my church was Reformed.

In Catholicism, there is a sacrament of Confirmation, which is also given at about the same age (11-16) for candidates already baptized (baptism is when they received the indwelling Holy Spirit). The sacrament's primary purpose is exactly what the priest said as he traces the sign of the Cross on the forehead of the candidate as he says "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." (source). Unfortunately I didn't remember what the pastor said during the ceremony when I was confirmed, nor do I remember what gestures he used.

My question: In comparison with the Catholic sacrament of confirmation, what is the purpose of confirmation according to Reformed theology?

Related questions that an answer may want to address as well:

• Is it understood that there is a similar "sealing with the gift of the Holy Spirit"?
• Is there a connection with the forvigeness of Original Sin which in the Catholic understanding was given in infant baptism so babies can go to heaven, but in Reformed theology this "not going to heaven if you are not baptized" is no longer applicable because of predestination?
• What is the Biblical basis for this practice in Reformed churches?
• What did Calvin say about it?
• Since when it was practiced?
• Which Reformed denominations do public confirmation today?

Answer 1

In Reformed churches, children of believers are baptized at infancy and are considered members of the covenant community of God, even before they profess faith. However, they can't participate in communion yet because of Paul's warning that anyone who comes to the Lord's Table without "discerning the Lord’s body" (i.e. understanding what is happening in the Sacrament by faith) "drinks judgment to himself" (1 Corinthians 11:29, NKJV.) Hence, confirmation is what it sounds like: "confirmation" that an individual who was already a part of the visible church community really possesses living, saving faith in Christ (as far as we can discern, anyway) and is now ready to participate in Holy Communion.

Confirmation necessarily involves a profession of faith, and is is similar to what a new member is expected to do in credobaptist denominations when joining the church, except that it centers around communion rather than baptism. Since knowledge and assent to the truths of Scripture are essential elements of saving faith, infants and children are also barred from the Table until they have been fully catechized. Ideally, that process involves thorough instruction in the fundamentals of the faith and basic interpretation of Scripture.

By contrast, credobaptist denominations typically only admit baptized, professing believers into membership, essentially "confirming" them at the same time as they are baptized (as adults.) Hence, the rite of confirmation is not typically practiced in Baptist churches.

For Reformed Christians, not only is participation in the Sacrament the birthright of the believer, but it is also a vital means of grace by which Christ Himself strengthens and assures those who trust in Him that they, personally, share in the salvation promises of God. Understandably, being cleared to participate in the Sacrament is a big event for anyone who is trusting in Christ by faith.

As for your question about how confirmation in Reformed churches differs from what is practiced in Roman Catholicism: both essentially serve the same purpose, but Roman Catholics consider confirmation to be a full Sacrament by which children are initiated into the Church. The sacramental nature of confirmation was rejected early on by Protestants, but the practice continued due to the important role it plays in fencing the Table.

Further reading: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church | Q&A: The OPC's view of communion

Answer 2

In the Lutheran tradition the rite of Confirmation is viewed, among other things, as a type of preparation for entering into adolescence. In the more traditional branches of Lutheranism there is strong emphasis on teaching the basics of the Christian faith, along with an emphasis on learning the basics of apologetics.

At the rite of Confirmation there is a laying on of hands by the Pastor for a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, along with Spirit prompted selections of Bible passages given to each confirmand. In rare occasions the gift of tongues has occurred among confirmands in conjunction with praying for the Holy Spirit in this rite. However, most of the time general spiritual gifts are stirred up that prepare adolescents to better fight the good fight of faith.

Confirmation was seen in the first few centuries as a type of prayer dedication & rite of “Preparation for living the Christ like life in a hostile world.” In the 13th century there was even a tradition of a “light blow” delivered by the bishop in imitation of a blow by a sword - in which a young Teutonic warrior would be dubbed a knight.

The rite of Confirmation is also rooted in Jewish tradition. The Talmud gives 13 as the age at which a boy's vows are legally binding, and states that this is a result of his being a "man," as required in Numbers 6:2. The Jewish tradition has a rite of passage called a Bar and Bat Mitzvah. "Bar Mitzvah" literally means "son of the commandment." "Bar" is "son" in Aramaic, which used to be the vernacular of the Jewish people. "Mitzvah" is "commandment" in both Hebrew and Aramaic. "Bat" is daughter in Hebrew and Aramaic.

Extra Notes:

John Calvin in his Latin edition (1559) of his "Institutes of the Christian Religion" argues that the laying on of hands in the rite of Confirmation has no command of God. Therefore its practice is "sacrilegious audacity." What the apostles did at Samaria (Acts 8:15-17) was to lay on their hands and actually "dispense" the "visible gifts of the Spirit." But these "miraculous powers and manifest operations, which were distributed by the laying on of hands, have ceased." The bishops cannot imitate what the apostles effected through the laying on of hands.

So, according to Calvin, it is "nefarious" to claim that baptism cannot be "duly completed without confirmation." Episcopal confirmation "is a noted insult to baptism, the use of which it obscures - nay, abolishes."

Confirmation, as Calvin viewed it, is best practiced "without injury to baptism" as catechetical in nature. After instruction "a boy of ten years of age would present himself to the Church, to make profession of faith, would be questioned...If he was ignorant of any point, or did not well understand it, he would be taught. Thus the whole Church looked on and witnessed, he would profess the one true sincere faith with which the body of the faithful with one accord worship one God."

For an excellent survey of the various views on a theology of Confirmation see the Lutheran theologian Theodore Jungkuntz's book, "Confirmation and the Charismata."