Trent Horn

Trent Horn (born 1985) is an American Catholic apologist, writer, and academic. He is best known for his work in apologetics and his role as a speaker and educator on various aspects of Catholic teaching, in addition to his engagement in numerous debates regarding religious, philosophical, and political matters.

Horn is a staff apologist for Catholic Answers and has hosted the podcast The Counsel of Trent since 2019.

Horn has published several books, including Why We're Catholic: Our Reasons For Faith, Hope, And Love, and Answering Atheism: How to Make the Case for God with Logic and Charity.

Background

Early life and conversion Horn was born in San Diego, California, to a Jewish father and an ex-Catholic mother who had converted to Protestantism.

A self-proclaimed former Deist, he has stated he was highly skeptical of religion in his youth, considering it to be "a crutch for the simple minded." He was eventually introduced to Catholicism during his sophomore year of high school, when he participated in an event organized by a Catholic youth group and was subsequently invited to attend the Holy Mass, deciding to embrace the religion at the age of 17 upon further study.

Career

Apologetics Upon graduating from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2012, Horn became actively involved in the Catholic apologetics scene, joining the staff of Catholic Answers as an apologist. Since then, he has participated in numerous debates on topics such as the existence of God, the validity of Christian scripture, and the nature of truth, often engaging with both religious and secular opponents; places he has been invited to debate include UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and Stanford University. Horn's debate opponents have included Richard Carrier, Dan Barker, Matt Dillahunty, Alex O’Connor, James White, and Gavin Ortlund. Horn has also been active in the pro-life movement, and he went to colleges to debate abortion before he became an internet personality.

Academia Horn works as an adjunct professor of apologetics at Holy Apostles College. They have three children. He used to live in Kansas, but moved to Texas.