Jimmy Akin (born 24 August 1965) is an American

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

apologist Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their fa ...

. He has been working for Catholic Answers since 1993, their longest-serving staff member. Akin is a weekly guest on the national radio program ''Catholic Answers Live'', and regular contributor to ''Catholic Answers Magazine''. Since 2018, Akin has been the co-host of ''Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World'', a podcast examining mysteries in the areas of the paranormal and true crime.

Biography

Born in 1965 in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, Jimmy Akin grew up nominally

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

. As a child, he attended services at the local Church of Christ with his parents but became interested in the

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

movement as a teenager. During his time in college, Akin encountered the preaching of the

televangelist Televangelism (from ''televangelist'', a blend of ''television'' and ''evangelist'') and occasionally termed radio evangelism or teleministry, denotes the utilization of media platforms, notably radio and television, for the marketing of relig ...

Eugene "Gene" Scott and became a Christian, finding a denominational home in the conservative

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Calvinist, Reformed in theolog ...

, and wanted to be a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

or seminary professor. He also worked as a

Pro-Life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

activist prior to working for Catholic Answers. Soon after becoming a Christian, Akin met his future wife, Renee Humphrey, who had been baptized a Catholic but held many New Age beliefs. Over the course of their relationship, Humphrey reverted to Catholicism and resumed practicing the faith. They were married in 1988 and Akin soon after converted to Catholicism in 1992. Later that year, Humphrey died of colon cancer.

Career

He is the senior apologist for Catholic Answers. While his academic training is in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, he also claims to be an

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

, who has managed to acquire an extensive background in

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their f ...

biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

, and related disciplines. Akin is a weekly guest on the national

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

program ''Catholic Answers Live'', a regular contributor to ''Catholic Answers Magazine'', and a

blogger A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

and podcaster. His personal web site i
JimmyAkin.com
In 2010, he defended charges that

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

engaged in

self-flagellation Self-flagellation is the disciplinary and devotional practice of Flagellation, flogging oneself with whips or other instruments that inflict pain. In Christianity, self-flagellation is practiced in the context of the doctrine of the mortification ...

, writing, "Self-mortification teaches humility by making us recognize that there are things more important than our own pleasure." In 2020, Akin said that while Chick tracts were inaccurate, he thought they brought some people to God. Since 2018, Akin has been the co-host (alongside Dom Bettinelli) of ''Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World'', a podcast examining mysteries in the areas of the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

and

true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...

Works

* "A Triumph and a Tragedy" in ''Surprised By Truth: 11 Converts Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons for Becoming Catholic'' (Basilica Press, 1994, ) * ''The Salvation Controversy'' ( Catholic Answers Press, 2001, ) * ''The Nightmare World of Jack Chick'' (Catholic Answers Press, 2008, ) * ''The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to Early Christian Teaching'' (Catholic Answers Press, 2010, ) * "Anti-Catholicism" in ''Disorientation: How to Go to College Without Losing Your Mind'' ( Ascension Press, 2010, ) * ''Mass Revision: How the Liturgy Is Changing and What It Means for You'' (

Ignatius Press Ignatius Press is a Catholic theological publishing house based in San Francisco, California, in the United States. It was founded in 1978 by Father Joseph Fessio, a former pupil of both Henri de Lubac and Pope Benedict XVI. Named after Ignatiu ...

, 2011, ) * ''Mass Appeal: The ABCs of Worship'' (Catholic Answers Press, 2012, ) * ''The Drama of Salvation: How God Rescues You from Your Sins and Delivers You to Eternal Life'' (Catholic Answers Press, 2015, ) * ''A Daily Defense: 365 Days (plus one) to Becoming a Better Apologist'' (Catholic Answers Press, 2016, ) * ''Teaching with Authority: How to Cut Through Doctrinal Confusion & Understand What the Church Really Says'' (Catholic Answers Press, 2018, ) * ''The Bible Is A Catholic Book'' (Catholic Answers Press, 2019, )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akin, Jimmy 1965 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Roman Catholics American male non-fiction writers American religion and spirituality podcasters American religious writers American Roman Catholic writers Catholic Church in popular culture Christian apologists Converts to Roman Catholicism from Presbyterianism Living people People from Corpus Christi, Texas Roman Catholic activists University of Arkansas alumni