Jimmy Akin: Former Presbyterian

James (these days he’s goes by Jimmy) was born in south Texas and grew up in the Ozarks in Arkansas. When he was little he parents attended the Church of Christ but stopped attending when he was about five. In high school he became involved in the New Age movement. In his early 20’s he began studying the Bible and fell in love with the Scriptures. Soon, he developed a desire to become a Presbyterian minister, in which denomination he now belonged. He fell in love with a Catholic girl and got married which ended the possibility of his being a minister in his conservative Presbyterian denomination. He began to study Catholic teaching, with an eye to making his wife Presbyterian. To his surprise he realized that the Catholic Church was right has he must become a Catholic. Sadly, Jimmy’s wife became terminally ill. He was received into the Church in her hospital room, four days before she died. Jimmy is a Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to “Catholic Answers Magazine”, and a weekly guest on “Catholic Answers Live.”