Jimmy Akin
James Akin (born in 1965, Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American Catholic apologist and podcast host. He is director of apologetics and evangelism in the Catholic Answers and is a Catholic convert.
Biography
Born in 1965 in Corpus Christi, Texas, James Akin grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. For six years he attended worship in the local Protestant church with his parents. As a teenager became interested in the New Age movement. During his studies at the college, under the influence of the televangelist Eugene Scott, he turned to Protestantism and became a preacher. He soon turned to the conservative Presbyterian Church in America, and wanted to be a pastor or a teacher at the seminary.
Akin met Renee Humphrey, who also shared New Age and Catholic beliefs. They married and he converted to Catholicism. Akin has since rejected the belief in reincarnation though he has examined it. Humphrey has since died.[1]
He is a senior apologist for Catholic Answers.[2] Akin defended charges that Pope John Paul II engaged in self-flagellation, writing, "Self-mortification teaches humility by making us recognize that there are things more important than our own pleasure."[3] Akin said that while Chick tracts were inaccurate, he thought they brought some people to God.[4]
Since 2018, Akin has been the co-host (alongside Dom Bettinelli) of "Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World", a podcast examining mysteries from a Catholic perspective.[5][6]
Works
- Disorientation: How to Go to College Without Losing Your Mind [7]
- Surprised by Truth[7]
- The Salvation Controversy[8]
- The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to Early Christian Teaching[9]
- Mass Revision - How the Liturgy Is Changing and What It Means for You[10]
References
- "Reincarnation (and Bridey Murphy)". Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World. 10 April 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- Schapiro, Jeff (May 23, 2012). "Jesus Popsicles Spark Controversy". Christian Post. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- Hansen, Collin (February 8, 2010). "Why Pope John Paul II Whipped Himself". Christianity Today. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- Jensen, Kurt (October 31, 2016). "Rabid anti-Catholic views of late pamphleteer kept him marginalized". Catholic Philly. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- "THE CATHOLIC WEIRD AND MYSTERIOUS". Splendor of Truth. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- "Is the Origin of Easter Based on Ancient Pagan Gods?". Patheos. 17 April 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- "My Books – Jimmy Akin". Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- Akin, James. (2001). The salvation controversy. San Diego: Catholic Answers. ISBN 1-888992-18-2. OCLC 50336780.
- Akin, Jimmy. (2010). The fathers know best : your essential guide to the teachings of the early church (1st ed.). San Diego: Catholic Answers. ISBN 978-1-933919-34-8. OCLC 700749242.
- Akin, Jimmy. (2011). Mass revision : how the liturgy is changing and what it means for you. San Diego, Calif.: Catholic Answers. ISBN 978-1-933919-45-4. OCLC 741365789.