408. Is There Any Scriptural Authority for the Rite of Confirmation?
The Apostle Paul is represented as confirming the souls of the disciples (Act_14:22), and again as confirming the churches (Act_15:41) ; Judas and Silas did the same thing (Act_15:32). It does not in these cases appear to have been a rite or ceremony. But there appears to have been some rite of the kind in the early church. The writer of Hebrews speaks (Heb_6:2) of "the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands." He may have had reference to the laying on of hands, implying the gift of the Holy Spirit, as in Act_8:17, and as Paul did (Act_19:6). It seems to have been a Jewish idea of ancient date, as Jacob thus blessed Joseph's children (Gen_48:14). The custom continued in Christ's time (see Mat_19:13), when "there were brought unto him little children that he should put his hands on them, and pray."
Source: 555 Difficult Bible Questions Answered