There has been continuous controversy about the rite of confirmation for the last thirty years. The traditional theology has been challenged from two sides For some it is a meaningless reduplication of an aspects of baptism; for others it is nothing less than the baptism is only the preparation. Although the literature of this controversy is large we are still without a satisfying theology of the sacrament. The task of writing a short book on the theology of confirmation in these circumstances is a difficult one. Theology is not history, yet the theology of Christian sacraments must be firmly based on the actual practice of the church in different places throughout the centuries. History therefore, must feature largely in any book on the theology of confirmation. First of all we must outline the history of the gift of the Holy Spirit in the initiation rites of the early Church. Then attention must be given to the development of espiscopal confirmation as a separate rite.