Outer Rim Territories

The Lutheran Logomaniac – Confirmation in the Early Church

Confirmation in the Lutheran Church.
A Historical Survey from the Early Church to the Present

also

Random Thoughts of a Confessional Lutheran

When the defenders of the current system say that confirmation instruction is the only instruction these kids may get, I say that is part of the problem and the current system isn’t helping at all. The current system allows for this! Dump your kid off at Sunday School, allow him to go to confirmation for two years, and the parents think they have done their job. The current system allows parents to be lazy. How, pray tell, is allowing this to happen part of the solution? How can you defend something that encourages the very behavior that we are trying to discourage?

and

Random Thoughts of a Confessional Lutheran

I need to get something off of my chest about confirmation: I think we should junk the rite. It was possibly one of the most meaningless rites of passage I have gone through, and that is exactly what it has turned into: a rite of passage. Confirmation classes and Sunday School are miserable excuses used by parents to not teach their children the faith. They figure Mrs. Higginsbottom and Pastor Sjovben will do it for them. Getting rid of confirmation will go a long way to fixing the situation. So what if grandma and mom are up in arms? They let things get out hand and didn’t do anything about it. Blow up confirmation, kill Sunday School, and use all that extra time to teach the parents how to teach the kids.

It may be the time of the year but perhaps other see the contradiction as I expressed in my past post Outer Rim Territories » Baptism -> Confirmation -> Holy Communion. I have more to say on the issue which will have to wait until a time when I have can dedicate myself to exposing more of the historical and scriptural pros and cons for the practice. Reading the above posts will give you a head start in understanding this whole confirmation business and understanding the contradictions of faith and practice.

Related posts:

1. Confirmation: Theology and Practice for Today’s Lutheran
2. BALAAM’S ASS: Why Confirmation Must End
3. Baptism -> Confirmation -> Holy Communion
4. The Baptismal Practice & Theology of the Early Church and Martin Luther
5. Doctrine and Practice