Jimmy Akin
Akin providing a rebuttal during his 2022 debate withBart Ehrman.
Born	(1965-08-24)August 24, 1965 (age 60) Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
YouTube information
Channel	Jimmy Akin
Years active	2009-present
Subscribers	100 thousand
Views	11.3 million
Last updated: May 10, 2025

Jimmy Akin (born 24 August 1965) is an AmericanCatholicapologist. He has been working forCatholic Answers^[1] since 1993, their longest-serving staff member.

Akin is a weekly guest on the national radio programCatholic Answers Live, and regular contributor toCatholic Answers Magazine. Since 2018, Akin has been the co-host ofJimmy Akin's Mysterious World, a podcast examining mysteries in the areas of the paranormal and true crime.

Born in 1965 inCorpus Christi, Texas, Jimmy Akin grew up nominallyProtestant inFayetteville, Arkansas. As a child, he attended services at the local Church of Christ with his parents but became interested in theNew Age movement as a teenager. During his time in college, Akin encountered the preaching of thetelevangelistEugene "Gene" Scott and became a Christian, finding a denominational home in the conservativePresbyterian Church in America, and wanted to be apastor or seminary professor.^[2][3] He also worked as aPro-Life activist prior to working for Catholic Answers.^[4]

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; later that year, Humphrey died of colon cancer.^[5][3][6]

He is the senior apologist forCatholic Answers.^[7] While his academic training is inphilosophy, he also claims to be anautodidact, who has managed to acquire an extensive background inapologetics,biblical studies,theology,liturgy,canon law, and related disciplines.^[8]

Akin is a weekly guest on the nationalradio programCatholic Answers Live, a regular contributor toCatholic Answers Magazine, and ablogger andpodcaster. His personal web site isJimmyAkin.com.^[9]

In 2010, he defended charges thatPope John Paul II engaged inself-flagellation, writing, "Self-mortification teaches humility by making us recognize that there are things more important than our own pleasure."^[10] In 2020, Akin said that whileChick tracts were inaccurate, he thought they brought some people to God.^[11]

Since 2018, Akin has been the co-host (alongside Dom Bettinelli) ofJimmy Akin's Mysterious World, a podcast examining mysteries in the areas of theparanormal andtrue crime.^[12][13]

• "A Triumph and a Tragedy" inSurprised By Truth: 11 Converts Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons for Becoming Catholic (Basilica Press, 1994,ISBN 978-0964261082)
• The Salvation Controversy (Catholic Answers Press, 2001,ISBN 978-1888992182)
• The Nightmare World of Jack Chick (Catholic Answers Press, 2008,ISBN 978-1933919171)
• The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to Early Christian Teaching (Catholic Answers Press, 2010,ISBN 978-1933919348)
• "Anti-Catholicism" inDisorientation: How to Go to College Without Losing Your Mind (Ascension Press, 2010,ISBN 978-1934217948)
• Mass Revision: How the Liturgy Is Changing and What It Means for You (Ignatius Press, 2011,ISBN 978-1933919454)
• Mass Appeal: The ABCs of Worship (Catholic Answers Press, 2012,ISBN 978-1888992328)
• The Drama of Salvation: How God Rescues You from Your Sins and Delivers You to Eternal Life (Catholic Answers Press, 2015,ISBN 978-1941663127)
• A Daily Defense: 365 Days (plus one) to Becoming a Better Apologist (Catholic Answers Press, 2016,ISBN 978-1683570042)
• Teaching with Authority: How to Cut Through Doctrinal Confusion & Understand What the Church Really Says (Catholic Answers Press, 2018,ISBN 978-1683570943)
• The Bible Is A Catholic Book (Catholic Answers Press, 2019,ISBN 978-1683571414)

• 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

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from March 2023
• Articles with hCards
• Social media pages with Wikidata