RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Oonfesslon Ooiifi.riiiation
be only voluntary, and the penitent must be convinced that the seal of the confessional remains secure. This was the duty of the confessor in former times, but even this obligation had its exceptions. Aside from the theoretical question whether the Protestant churches have or can have a seal of the confessional which must be kept absolutely, their relation to the goverrunent and to public weal must also be taken into consideration. This point, moreover, can scarcely be of practical importance, for things which would sometimes compel the confessor to ignore the seal of the confessional would seldom be confessed in a voluntary private confession.
Among the Moravians, after the communion has been announced, an examination of the families is arranged with the minister, and at the communion a penitential prayer with absolution is 9. Usage of used, which the communicants answer Different with " Amen " and a song of praise. Churches. The Catholic Apostolic Church commences the Eucharist with confession and absolution; the Methodists, after the invitation to receive the communion has been made, have a general confession which closes with a prayer for forgiveness. The Anglican liturgy has a confession and a precative absolution at the communion, and contemplates private confession with judicial absolution in the visitation of the sick. The preparation for the communion among the Reformed is like confession among the Lutherans. The Greek churches, the Russian as well as that under the patriarch of Constantinpole, demand confession as an act of preparation for the communion. Whenever the communion of the laity takes place in the Roman Church, during or outside of the mass an assistant pronounces the Confiteor and the priest the Misereatur and Indulgentiam. W Caspari.
Bibliography: H. C. Lea, A Hist, of Auricular Confession, 3 vols., Philadelphia, 1896; W. Elwin, Confession and Absolution in the Bible, ib. 1883; J. Ferret, La Confession, Paris, 1883; H. J. Schmitz, Die BussbiXcher und die Bussdisciplin der Kirche, pp. 864, Mainz, 1883; C. P. Reichel, History and Claims of the Confessional, London, 1884; G. Pell, Das Dogma von der Silnde und Erlosung, Regensburg, 1886; C. H. Davis, Apostolical and Ministerial Absolution, London, 1887; L. Desanctis, The Confessional, lb. 1887; K. E. Schieler, Die Verwaltung des Busssakraments, Paderborn, 1894, Eng. transl.. Theory and Practice of the Confessional, New York, 1905; E. C. Achelis, Lehrbuch der praktischen Theologie, i. 389 sqq., Leipsic, 1898; T. W. Drury, Confession and Absolution, London, 1904; J. Renter, Der Beichtvater in der Verwaltung seines Antes, Regensburg, 1901; C. M. Roberts, The Hist, of Confession until it developed into Auricular Confession, London, 1901; Fulham Palace Conference; Confession and Absolution, ib. 1902; H. H. Henson, Moral Disci- Vhne in the Christian Church, ib. 1905; A. G. Mortimer, Confession and Absolution, New York, 1906.
CONFIRMATION.
In the Early Church (§ 1).
Medieval and Later Developments (§ 2).
Practise of the Reformers (§3).
Modern Lutheran Teachings (§ 4).
The AngUcan and Roman Catholic Churches (§ 5).
Confirmation is a rite which in the Roman Catholic and Greek churches is considered a sacrament conveying strength for the Christian warfare and completing the gift of the Holy Ghost bestowed in
baptism, and by which in the Anglican and Lutheran churches baptized persons are received into full communion. At an early period in the primitive Church baptism was accompanied with unction (Tertullian, De baptismo, vii.; Cyril, " Mystagogic_ Lectures," iii. 2-6), with which theologians associated communication of the Spirit. A second
rite connected with baptism was the I. In the laying on of hands (Acts viii. 17, xix.
Early 6). Unction and laying on of hands Church, became later separate ceremonies,
performed by the bishop; but since baptism remained associated with unction, there were two anointings, one at baptism and a second performed by the bishop. From the latter ceremony developed confirmation. According to medieval doctrine this took the place of the laying on of hands (Decrees of the Council of Florence, 1439). The historical development of the rite culminates in the bull Exultate of Eugenius IV (1431-47); the material is an unguent of oil and balsam; the formula, " I seal thee with the sign of the cross and confirm thee with the oil of salvation in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost " [the form employed in the Greek Church is: " the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit " (is imparted to thee) ] ; the ordinary minister is the bishop; the effect is the giving of the Holy Ghost with strength boldly to confess Christ. The alapa, i.e., the practise of giving the candidate a blow on the cheek is not mentioned in this bull, though already customary (William Durand. Rationale divinorum officiorum, vi. 84).
In the Middle Ages opposition to confirmation had been aroused by Wyclif and the Bohemians, and the latter replaced it by a rite which is to be regarded as the prototype of Evangelical confirmation (W. Caspari, Konfirmation, Leipsic, 1890, pp. 168-171). The Reformers also decisively pronounced against it. The fact that infant baptism was retained; the consequent Anabaptist objections that
in this way, contrary to the baptismal 2. Medieval command of the Lord, baptism became and Later anterior to teaching; the ignorance of Develop- the congregations in the main articles ments. of Christianity; the fear that on this
account the Eucharist might be received by the unworthy; and, above all, solicitude for the flock imposed on the Reformers the duty of promoting Christian instruction through catechizing. Admission to communion was made contingent upon an examination in the chief truths of the Christian religion. As early as 1534 Butzer (in Ad monasterienses) taught that baptized children after antecedent Christian instruction might make public profession, and that the ancient usage from which confirmation had arisen might be renewed, namely, that the bishops should lay hands on the baptized and thereby " literally " impart to them the Holy Ghost. The section " Confirmatio " of the Wittenberg Reformation of 1545 (CR, v. 579) expressed itself in similar terms.
Meanwhile in certain districts in Hesse and Strasburg a rite had been introduced, instituted by Butzer, who was acqxiainted with the Moravian laying on of hands (the Kirchenordnung of Cassel, 1539). The same liturgical manual contains the formula
Confirmation Conflict of Duties