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<\/a>Patrick O\u2019Brien is a former Catholic Protestant anti-Catholic apologist, who obtained a Masters of Divinity degree from Liberty University. He runs the Philippians 1:9 Ministries<\/em> YouTube channel, that has 11,800 subscribers. Today we\u2019ll be critiquing his video called, \u201cSacrament of Confirmation Examined: Is It a Biblical Practice?\u201d<\/a> (dated 12-18-25). His words from the video will be in blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n 0:48 this sacrament of confirmation is not in the Bible. And really, it doesn\u2019t make any sense. And this is why I say that Roman Catholicism just makes up, invents things, and makes up sacraments.<\/span><\/p>\n 1:21 when we did our confirmation, we had the bishop come and it was a whole big to-do and you had to have a sponsor, which is weird.\u00a0That\u2019s not in the Bible either.<\/span><\/p>\n The word \u201csponsor\u201d may not be there, but so what? The word \u201cTrinity\u201d isn\u2019t in the Bible. Nor is \u201caltar call\u201d or \u201cBible Alone\u201d or a host of other things that Protestants and other Christians believe. The phrase \u201cfaith alone\u201d appears exactly once, and it\u2019s condemned <\/em>(\u201cYou see that a man is justified by works and not by\u00a0<\/strong>faith alone\u201d \u2013 James 2:24 [RSV]). What matters is whether a belief<\/em> or concept<\/em> or practice<\/em> is present in the Bible. Its name is a secondary thing.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a notable biblical example of sponsorship, or vouching for the sincerity and qualifications of a person to become a Christian, or having passed some other qualification, such as readiness to be confirmed:<\/p>\n Acts 9:26-27<\/strong> And when he [i.e., Paul] had come to Jerusalem he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. [27] But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The idea was also present in the early Church, where sponsors (the beginning of \u201cgodparents\u201d \u2013 something most Protestants agree with) stood with the new convert and vouched for them as proper members of the Christian community, getting ready for baptism. Tertullian (c. 160-c. 225) mentioned a \u201csponsor\u201d with regard to new converts seeking baptism in his treatise On Baptism<\/em>. Paul himself functioned as a sponsor of sorts with Timothy, referring to him as \u201cmy true child in the faith\u201d (1 Tim 1:2; cf. Phil 2:22). St. Paul reflects this understanding in writing to the Corinthians:<\/p>\n 1 Corinthians 4:14-17<\/strong> I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. [15] For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. [16] I urge you, then, be imitators of me. [17] Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. (cf. 1 Thess 2:11)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Luther and Calvin believed in infant baptism, including sponsors during the ceremony. The Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists, among others, all retained the belief in godparents. The Reformed and Presbyterians did also, often referring to the godparents as \u201csponsors.\u201d Wikipedia\u2019s article, \u201cConfirmation\u201d<\/a> \u2013 citing appropriate sources \u2014 describes the belief in confirmation \u2013 even though they don\u2019t regard it as a sacrament<\/em> \u2014 by many Protestant groups as follows:<\/p>\n In Christian denominations that practice\u00a0infant baptism,\u00a0confirmation\u00a0is seen as the sealing of the\u00a0covenant<\/a>\u00a0created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as\u00a0confirmands. The ceremony typically involves\u00a0laying on of hands<\/a>. . . .<\/p>\n In many\u00a0Protestant<\/a> denominations, such as the Lutheran<\/a>,\u00a0Reformed<\/a>,\u00a0Anglican<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Methodist<\/a>\u00a0traditions, confirmation is a\u00a0rite<\/a>\u00a0that often includes a\u00a0profession of faith<\/a>\u00a0by an already baptized person. Confirmation is required by Lutherans, Anglicans and other traditional Protestant denominations for\u00a0full membership in the respective church<\/a>; the\u00a0covenant theology<\/a>\u00a0of Reformed churches considers baptized infants members of the church, while confirmation or \u201cprofession of faith\u201d is required for admittance to the Lord\u2019s Table. . . .<\/p>\n Confirmation is not practiced in\u00a0Baptist<\/a>,\u00a0Anabaptist<\/a>\u00a0and other groups that teach\u00a0believer\u2019s baptism<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Methodist Worship Book<\/a><\/em> affirms: \u201cIn Confirmation, those who have been baptized declare their faith in Christ and are strengthened by the Holy Spirit for continuing discipleship.\u201d Anglicanism believes essentially the same thing (Methodism having derived from Anglicanism). The Lutheran Book of Worship<\/a><\/em> also has a section concerning \u201cAffirmation of Baptism\u201d (also described as \u201cconfirmation\u201d in the same document). It states that \u201cA representative of the congregation presents the candidates to the minister\u201d \u2013 this is the \u201csponsor\u201d \u2014 and then the person being confirmed affirms basic tenets of Christianity. The pastor prays, \u201cContinue to strengthen her \/ him with the Holy Spirit\u201d and then lays hands on the person and prays that God the Father would \u201cstir up . . . the gift of your Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, confirmation or something very similar to it, is mainstream and majority Protestant belief and practice. Patrick, as a Baptist, is in a small minority, since belief in adult, believer\u2019s adult baptism is small minority position among all Christians. In other words, he\u2019s not representing even a majority of Protestants, who basically agree with us about this. By not noting all of these factors, he presents a view that doesn\u2019t fully address the entire reality of who<\/em> practices confirmation, or why<\/em> they do. It\u2019s an inadequate selective presentation, that we have now exposed and corrected. He\u2019s dead wrong in implying that Catholics are unique in this respect and supposedly made it up out of nowhere.<\/p>\n St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, writing as an Anglican, eight years before he was received into the Catholic Church, made a helpful observation:<\/p>\n The Ancient Church seems to have believed as follows \u2013 that the Holy Ghost, who is the present Lord and animating Principle (Power) of the Church, communicates Himself variously to its members; \u2013 first in Baptism, in another way in Confirmation, in another way in the Holy Eucharist. His first gift or communication is forgiveness, justification, acceptance \u2013 and this is the distinguishing gift of Baptism. . . .<\/p>\n \u2019Confirmation;\u2019 . . . [is] a deep fixing, establishing, rooting in of that grace which was first given in Baptism. . . . confirmation seals in their fulness, winds up and consigns, completes the entire round of those sanctifying gifts which are begun, which are given inchoately. in Baptism. . . . If it be asked, what is the peculiar<\/em> grace of Confirmation, I answer it seems as the Greek name implies to be a Perfecting, or man-making. We in it become men in Christ Jesus. The baptismal grace is principally directed towards the abolition of existing guilt, e.g. original sin \u2013 the child is comparatively speaking incapable of actual. The grace of Confirmation is directed to arm the Christian against his three great enemies, which, when entering into his field of trial, he at once meets. (Letter to his sister, Jemima Mozley, 4 June 1837)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now, we\u2019ll be addressing the biblical<\/em> basis for why so many Christians practice the rite of confirmation. Patrick cites The Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em>, #1303:<\/p>\n From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:<\/p>\n \u2013 it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, \u201cAbba! Father!\u201d;<\/p>\n \u2013 it unites us more firmly to Christ; \u2013 it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;<\/p>\n \u2013 it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;<\/p>\n \u2013 it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Then Patrick gives his opinion of the above:<\/p>\n 4:42 they\u2019re painting this picture that it makes you better, makes you greater, more useful. You get more gifts. Again, none of that\u2019s taught in the scripture. Mind you, this is an invention of men.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 5:29 from what I can tell, they believe that from baptism, you get the Holy Spirit because you become a temple of the Holy Spirit in paragraph 1265. But then you get this filling or outpouring of the Holy Spirit more so like a completion with this confirmation thing. Again, this is not scriptural. This is an invention from Rome.<\/span><\/p>\n Jordan Cooper, the Lutheran pastor with a big YouTube channel, also tried to make the argument that the idea of obtaining \u201cmore grace\u201d isn\u2019t biblical. I replied with a three-minute video entitled, \u201cDegrees of Grace in the Bible<\/a>\u201d (dated 1-7-26). Acts 4:33\u00a0states that \u201cgreat<\/em> grace\u00a0was upon them all.\u201d Paul wrote that \u201cgrace was given\u00a0to each of us\u00a0according to the measure <\/em>of Christ\u2019s gift\u201d (Ephesians 4:7). James 4:6 asserts that God \u201cgives more<\/em> grace.\u201d 1 Peter 1:2 and 2 Peter 1:2 both state that \u201cgrace\u201d can be \u201cmultiplied<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Peter commands us in 2 Peter 3:18\u00a0to \u201cgrow in the grace<\/em>\u00a0and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u201d Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:31 (cf. 14:1) says that we ought to \u201cearnestly desire the higher gifts\u201d. This means that there is a possibility to obtain greater gifts, and \u2013 as Patrick refers to \u2013 \u201cmore\u201d gifts. Confirmation is perfectly consistent with that. Paul in Romans 12:6 refers to \u201cgifts\u00a0that differ<\/em> according to the grace given<\/em> to us\u201d.<\/p>\n What about receiving more of the Holy Spirit? God \u201ctook some of the spirit that was upon\u201d Moses and \u201cput it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied\u201d (Numbers 11:25). Many passages in the New Testament speak of being \u201cfilled with\u201d or \u201cfull of\u201d the Holy Spirit. That implies \u2013 at least in some cases \u2014 that they may have had a measure of the Holy Spirit before, but now have more. In Ephesians 3:9 Paul hopes that the Ephesians would be \u201cfilled\u00a0with all the fulness of God\u201d and he hopes that the Colossians would also \u201cbe filled\u00a0with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding\u201d (Colossians 1:9). He wants the Ephesians to \u201cbe filled with the Spirit\u201d (5:18).<\/p>\n Matthew Poole\u2019s Commentary<\/em> expressed the opinion that the latter verse meant, \u201cBe not satisfied with a little of the Spirit, but seek for a greater measure, so as to be filled with the Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n Gill\u2019s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/a><\/em> thinks that it means the following:<\/p>\n be filled with the Spirit; that is, \u201cwith the Holy Spirit\u201d, . . .\u00a0 with the gifts and graces of the Spirit: some have been filled with them in an extraordinary way, as the apostles on the day of Pentecost; and others in an ordinary manner, as common believers; . . .\u00a0 they are filled with the Spirit, in whom his grace is a well of living water, and out of whose belly flow rivers of it; and who have a large measure of spiritual peace and joy, . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/a> delightfully opines:<\/p>\n Thus, \u201cbe ye filled in (the) Spirit,\u201d may be lawfully paraphrased, \u201cLet in the holy atmosphere to your inmost self, to your whole will and soul. Let the Divine Spirit, in Whom you, believing, are, pervade your being, as water fills the sponge.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n John Calvin in his Commentaries<\/em> thought that Paul was referring to joy in the Holy Spirit:<\/p>\n Such carnal excitement is contrasted with that holy joy of which the Spirit of God is the Author, and which produces entirely opposite effects. . . .\u00a0 to what does spiritual joy lead, when it is most strongly excited?\u00a0 To psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. [alluded to in 5:19] These are truly pleasant and delightful fruits. The Spirit means \u201cjoy in the Holy Ghost,\u201d (Romans 14:17<\/a>) and the exhortation, be ye filled, (ver. 18) alludes to deep drinking, with which it is indirectly contrasted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Following this theme of \u201cjoy\u201d and fullness in the Holy Spirit, we see other related passages:<\/p>\n Acts 13:52<\/strong> And the disciples were filled with\u00a0<\/strong>joy\u00a0and with the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n Romans 15:13<\/strong> May the God of hope fill you with all\u00a0<\/strong>joy\u00a0and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.<\/p>\n Galatians 5:22<\/strong> \u00a0But the fruit of the Spirit is love,\u00a0<\/strong>joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,<\/p>\n 1 Thessalonians 1:6<\/strong> And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with\u00a0<\/strong>joy\u00a0inspired by the Holy Spirit;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n All of this is perfectly consistent with what we believe happens in the sacrament of confirmation. See how many Bible verses I have provided in support? Patrick gave none in his analysis. He simply expressed the sweeping universal negative: \u201cnone of that\u2019s taught in the scripture.\u201d<\/span> Whenever I\u2019m around, that won\u2019t be nearly good enough. I exhort people in love and with biblical example to dig a lot deeper into the Bible than that.<\/p>\n But Patrick did agree with us and how we view confirmation in a statement at 13:59: \u201cthrough our sanctification, we are filled with the spirit multiple times through our life as we walk by faith and truth and obedience to Christ.\u201d<\/span> Exactly. If that\u2019s true, then certainly it\u2019s also\u00a0 consistent and biblical to be given a significant increase of the fullness of the Spirit in one<\/em> extraordinary instance involving a bishop, per biblical examples.<\/p>\n 7:58\u00a0we don\u2019t see this kind of thing taught or spoken of anywhere else in the entire scripture. It\u2019s not there. It\u2019s not mentioned anywhere. So when we look at it, confirmation is a hoax.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t have to be all in one place. It simply has to be in harmony<\/em> with what we know in the Bible. So, for example, we also find the Holy Spirit being sent to persons as a result of anointing and the laying on of the hands of authoritative spiritual leaders:<\/p>\n 1 Samuel 16:13<\/strong> Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.\u00a0. . .<\/p>\n Acts 19:6<\/strong> And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. (cf. Acts 8:17; 9:17)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Patrick then cites Trent\u2019s proclamation about the sacrament of confirmation and its anathema against those who deny it:<\/p>\n 10:12 Now it\u2019s interesting to see little Catholics and apologists and things online say \u201cno, anathema <\/em>doesn\u2019t mean that you\u2019re not saved. It just means that you\u2019re taken out of the Church. You\u2019re removed. You\u2019re excommunicated from the church, you know, and that really all it means.\u201d That\u2019s a lie. That\u2019s a lie.<\/span><\/p>\n A little melodramatic<\/em> there, are we? In one of my articles \u2014 linked below \u2014 I cite many Protestant and Catholic reference sources that deny<\/em> that \u201canathema\u201d means condemnation to hell, or damnation. Here are two Protestant sources.\u00a0The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church<\/em>, \u201cAnathema\u201d (2nd edition, edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, New York: Oxford University Press, 1983, p.\u00a0 50):<\/p>\n St. Paul uses the word to denote separation from the Christian community inflicted for sins such as preaching a gospel other than his (Gal. 1.8 f.) or for not loving the Lord (1 Cor. 16.22), whereas in other passages it simply means malediction (e.g. 1 Cor. 12.3).<\/p>\n In the post-Apostolic Church the earliest recorded instance of anathematizing offenders is at the Council of Elvira (c. 306). It soon became the regular procedure against heretics. . . . From the 5th cent. anathematization began to be distinguished from excommunication. Gratian explained that the latter involved only exclusion from the Sacraments and worship, whereas the former was complete separation from the Body of the faithful (Decretum<\/em>, Bk. ii, can. 106), a distinction which was closely akin to Gregory IX\u2019s distinction of \u2018Major\u2019 and \u2018Minor\u2019 Excommunication. In practice, the distinction lost its meaning, apart from the solemn ceremony which is used for anathemas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church<\/em>, \u201cAnathema\u201d (edited by J. D. Douglas, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1974, p. 39):<\/p>\n The NT use of the word implies exclusion, being banned, rather than complete extinction (Rom. 9:3; 1 Cor. 16:22,\u00a0lect. vid.<\/em>; Gal. 1:8f.; cf. 1 Cor. 12:3; Acts 23:14). The early church expanded the biblical meaning to make it synonymous with excommunication . . . From the sixth century onward, anathematizing (as complete banning from the church) is distinguished from excommunication (as exclusion from worship and the sacraments).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Catholic Church sentences no one to hell, and indeed, it doesn\u2019t even claim to have the power<\/em> to do so. For more on this, see the excellent article by Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin, linked in the description.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Related Articles<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Anathemas of Trent & Excommunication: An Explanation<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAnathema\u201d<\/a> (Jimmy Akin, Catholic Answers Magazine<\/em>, 4-1-00)<\/p>\n Related Web Page<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Baptism and Sacramentalism<\/em><\/a> (section IV)<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Photo credit<\/strong>: The prophet Samuel anoints King David (1 Sam 10:1)<\/span> [Bible Art<\/em><\/a> \/ Free to use for non-commercial purposes<\/a> with attribution]<\/p>\n Summary<\/em>: I discuss the purpose and biblical support for the sacrament of confirmation, as Catholics understand it. Many Protestant denominations, to various degrees, also adhere to it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Including Documentation of Protestant Espousal of the Rite of Confirmation & Brief Clarification of Anathemas \u00a0 Patrick O\u2019Brien is a former Catholic Protestant anti-Catholic apologist, who obtained a Masters of Divinity degree from Liberty University. He runs the Philippians 1:9 Ministries YouTube channel, that has 11,800 subscribers. Today we\u2019ll be critiquing his video called, \u201cSacrament […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":98252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231,314],"tags":[18173,3524,18170,2542,650,1849],"class_list":["post-98249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-catholicism","category-baptism-and-sacramentalism","tag-anointing","tag-confirmation","tag-receiving-the-holy-spirit","tag-sacrament-of-confirmation","tag-sacramentalism","tag-seven-sacraments"],"yoast_head":"\n