Excerpt from The Great Duty of Frequenting the Christian Sacrifice: And the Nature of the Preparation Required; With Suitable Devotions; Partly Collected From the Ancient Liturgies; To Which Are Prefixed Instructions for Confirmation Q. What is Confirmation? A. A solemn rite instituted by the Apostles, wherein the Bishop, by laying on of hands, and by fervent prayer, and authoritative benediction, conveys to such persons, who, in the presence of God and the congregation, sincerely renew their baptismal vow, a farther degree of God's grace and Holy Spirit. Q. What is the end and design of confirmation? A. That baptized Christians should by their own deliberate choice take upon themselves that vow and promise, which was made in their names by their godfathers and godmothers, when they were admitted members of Christ's Church; so that the confirmed person expressly consents to the baptismal covenant, and before God and many witnesses engages to perform his part of it. Q. At what age is confirmation to be administered? A. The Church of England hath not determined any certain age, but requires it to be done only to such as are come to a competent age: which implies that none should be admitted till they understand the nature of the baptismal vow, which they then renew, and till they are capable of making a prudent and firm resolution of observing it. Q. What custom was there among the Jews which bore any resemblance with confirmation? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.