Didn't go through with confirmation

[DaSeminarian]

Traditionally, the Church has used Baptismal interrogation as the means of making that confession of faith in Christ. This is based on the Scriptural premise of "confess and be baptized." The Baptismal Rite has always included this interrogation in the form of the Apostle's Creed which was developed for the purpose of Baptismal interrogation. It would require one to be able to make such a confession. Infants and small children have those questions answered by one who has authority to speak for them. Older children and adults answer for themselves, thus it is necessary to understand what it is they are agreeing to. This is why the LCMS has traditionally instructed Baptismal candidates prior to Baptism. It's actually an ancient practice.

Though it was a part of the Catechesis prior to St. Augustine, it was he who really changed the way that catechumens were interviewed. Before Augustine, catechumens were interrogated. People like Hippolytus laid great stress on this interrogation and his questions focused on lifestyle and profession. Augustine, by contrast, was more concerned with motive. The interrogation was not of the catechumen so much as it was the person who brought them.

 

[Radiata]

Interesting that you should say that since you have a Lutheran icon. Are you a member of a Lutheran church? If you are, how did you manage to become a member without confirmation?

Quick story. My father teaches confirmation at my church. Yet he is not a member. He still doesn't even consider himself Lutheran. He just says that he is a Christian and not part of any denomination. What's funny is that I asked him a few of the basic Lutheran beliefs. I asked: Do you believe in scripture? Yes. Do you believe in all of scripture? Yes. Do you believe that we are governed by scripture alone? Yes. Do you believe that the sacraments are not merely symbolic and that the Holy Spirit is truly at work in them? Yes. "Then guess what, you are Lutheran." I told him.

Just the next week, the executive director of my church, Joe, said that he was just going to add him as a member. He teaches a membership class and yet he was not a member. That was good enough.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

Baptism makes them a member of the Church (baptized member). If they wanted to be baptized but didn't want to be a member of the Church, I wouold question their motive and ask why they want to be baptized.

As I said before, baptism and instruction go hand in hand according the the Scriptures. In the case of those who cannot yet be instructed in the faith, their confession is made for them by one who has the authority to speak for them. Part of this is the promise to raise the child in the faith and teach them all that Christ commands according to the Scriptures.
In the case of those who can speak for themselves, they would need to be instructed in the faith in order to confess the faith on their own. This is the same instruction the preceeds confirmation. (Confirmation is just the personal reaffirmation of one's baptismal confession.)

They would not necessarily need to join our congregation, but as I said I would question them as to why they want to be baptized if they have no intention of joining the Church.


The short answer to your question is Yes, older children and adults need to be instructed before Baptism.

If one comes to you and says "I have sinned. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe that he is the son of God and that my faith is through the Holy Spirit. I want to be baptized." you would deny them that baptism unless they submitted to further instruction?

 

[CaliforniaJosiah]

My "path" was pretty unusual.....

When I was 12 or so, my father (a Protestant minister) assumed my Religion part of my homeschooling. Mom had used CPH Lutheran school materials since kindergarten, so Dad just continued that. The materials then were all designed for Confirmation, so he and I did the whole Confirmation thing together - including memorizing some stuff in Luther's Small Catechism - but, of course, no one in the family was Lutheran.

Later, Dad (who has a doctorate in church history with an emphasis on the Reformation) has always had a huge respect for Luther and Lutherans - especially in the area of theology, and again, my training had been from that perspective. So, we ordered two sets of F. Pieper's Christian Dogmatics - the books used in conservative Lutheran seminaries to train pastors. For three solid years, we made our way, together, page by page, through those 3 volumns. Occasionally, Dad (not being Lutheran) would not be exactly sure what Pieper was getting at, and so discussions would be made with my grandfather (a retired Lutheran pastor) or the LCMS pastor in town with whom my father is personal friends - but usually, we were fine. My dad is one TOUGH teacher (unlike my mom who was pretty easy). He didn't always agree with Pieper (occasionally thinking the Lutheran position too narrow or too defined), and he has some liberal and Calvinist leanings, but generally we both were pretty impressed with the word and the positions.

I eventually drifted into the Lutheran church (that happened when I was active posting in this forum, so the few still around from those days might remember that), and eventually in the LCMS congregation to which I now belong. The pastor there and I had ENDLESS discussions since I has hesitent to join or be Confirmed unless I could do so with a clear commitment. In those discussions, he invited me to be Confirmed and join - and when I asked about classes he insisted none was needed, that my training was far greater than is typical among Lutheran youth or adults upon joining.

Last Spring, after I had been "excused" from this website so none of you were "in" on that phase of things, I finally decided I desired to be Confirmed in the Lutheran Church and to officially join. I again asked about classes and the pastor replied, "To teach?" He stated that none was needed and that he'd include me in the next group of adults being Confirmed. And I was.



MY boring story...



Pax


- Josiah




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