The strongest voices on each side

How they were chosen

What the other side says about them

• “a brilliant and fine apologist” Leonardo De Chirico, a Protestant, on Trent Horn
• “a solid Roman Catholic theologian” Leonardo De Chirico, on Bishop Barron
• “Both speakers are the top apologists in their fields” Alpha and Omega Ministries, James White’s ministry, on White and Horn

The same De Chirico essay calls these Catholic apologists’ tone “assertive and polemical”. We found no Catholic calling a named Protestant apologist the best.

Catholic voices

Five of the nine are or were on the staff of Catholic Answers; the others teach, preach or host.

1. Trent Horn

   Staff apologist, Catholic Answers; host of The Counsel of Trent

   Answered by name: debated James White on Scripture alone and on purgatory (2024) and Gavin Ortlund on Scripture alone. Three master’s degrees.

   “Since Catholicism affirms this truth, that means the Catholic Church is not preaching a false gospel.”

   Trent Horn, Catholic Answers

   Start with: The Case for Catholicism (Catholic Answers Press). Watch: The Fallacy of "Sola Scriptura" Church Fathers, The Counsel of Trent.

2. Jimmy Akin

   Senior apologist, Catholic Answers, since 1993; a former Presbyterian

   Answered by name: debated James White several times since 1995 and the Lutheran Jordan Cooper on justification.

   “But by the first century, when the Gospel of Matthew was written, they meant the same thing.”

   Jimmy Akin, on petros and petra

   Start with: The Drama of Salvation (Catholic Answers Press, 2015). Watch: Gavin Ortlund & The Papacy | The Jimmy Akin Podcast, Jimmy Akin.

3. Scott Hahn

   Professor of biblical theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville; a former Presbyterian minister

   Credentials: a doctorate (Marquette, 1995) and four decades of teaching. Named by the Protestant writer De Chirico among the Catholic voices evangelicals meet.

   “If we read the Bible as it was written, we’ll read it from the heart of the Church.”

   Scott Hahn, scotthahn.com

   Start with: Rome Sweet Home, with Kimberly Hahn (Ignatius Press, 1993). Watch: Saved by Faith or Works? w/ Dr. Scott Hahn, Matt Fradd.

4. Brant Pitre

   Distinguished Research Professor of Scripture, Augustine Institute

   Credentials: a doctorate in New Testament and ancient Judaism (Notre Dame), books with Baker Academic and Eerdmans. He argues from Scripture scholarship more than in debate.

   Start with: Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist (Image, 2011). Watch: Where Is the Eucharist in the Bible? | (In Depth Bible Study), Augustine Institute.

5. Bishop Robert Barron

   Bishop of Winona-Rochester; founder of Word on Fire

   Answered by name: Christianity Today set his case on grace beside a Protestant reply, and the Lutheran Jordan Cooper answered him in an hour-long video.

   “The single most significant contribution of Martin Luther and those who followed in his theological path was the stress on the primacy of grace.”

   Bishop Robert Barron, Christianity Today, 2017

   Start with: Catholicism (Image, 2011). Watch: Bishop Barron on Catholicism and the Reformation, Bishop Robert Barron.

6. Tim Staples

   Apologist emeritus, Catholic Answers; a former Assemblies of God youth minister

   Answered by name: debated James White on the rule of faith, papal infallibility and purgatory, and White’s ministry made a long video answering him.

   “Below are seven reasons, among many others we could examine, why Peter is undeniably the rock”

   Tim Staples, Catholic Answers

   Start with: Behold Your Mother (Catholic Answers Press, 2014). Watch: Does the Church Act in the Place of Jesus? | Tim Staples | Catholic Answers Focus, Catholic Answers Live.

7. Joe Heschmeyer

   Staff apologist, Catholic Answers; host of Shameless Popery; a former litigator

   Answered by name: he answered Wes Huff and has debated Doug Wilson on Scripture alone. A law degree (Georgetown) and a theology degree from the Angelicum in Rome.

   “That word "alone" matters, because even Martin Luther conceded that Catholics believe in "justification by faith," which is what Scripture explicitly teaches.”

   Joe Heschmeyer, Catholic Answers

   Watch: More Proof that the Early Church was Catholic, Shameless Popery.

8. Karlo Broussard

   Director of Apologetics, Catholic Answers; teaches philosophy at Franciscan University

   A doctorate in philosophy (Maynooth). His 2026 article answers Gavin Ortlund’s case for Scripture alone, argument for argument.

   “And given the invalidity of this line of argumentation, we can’t accept its sola scriptura conclusion.”

   Karlo Broussard, Catholic Answers, 2026

   Watch: Karlo Broussard: Protestant Challenges to Catholic Beliefs - Catholic Answers Live -12/15/17, Catholic Answers Live.

9. Matt Fradd

   Host of Pints with Aquinas

   The convener more than the arguer: his channel hosted the two fairest debates below, giving each side equal time.

   Start with: Gavin Ortlund and Trent Horn on Scripture alone. Watch: A Protestant and a Catholic Walk into a Bar... (Matt Whitman) | Ep. 298, Matt Fradd.

Protestant voices

Baptist, Reformed, Lutheran, charismatic and Italian evangelical: Protestants answer Rome from several traditions.

1. Gavin Ortlund

   Reformed Baptist; president of Truth Unites; doctorate in historical theology (Fuller)

   Answered by name: debated Trent Horn, and Jimmy Akin, Joe Heschmeyer and Karlo Broussard have all answered him. What It Means to Be Protestant was Christianity Today’s 2024 Book of the Year.

   “the doctrine of sola Scriptura did not entail the wholesale rejection of tradition, but rather the affirmation of tradition in its proper, subordinate role”

   Gavin Ortlund, Credo, 2017

   Start with: What It Means to Be Protestant (Zondervan, 2024). Watch: Why Protestant Is More Catholic, Gavin Ortlund.

2. James White

   Reformed Baptist; director, Alpha and Omega Ministries

   Answered by name: by his own list more than 200 moderated debates, against Horn, Akin, Staples, Pacwa and others. His doctorates are from Columbia Evangelical Seminary, a school whose standing some opponents dispute.

   Start with: The Roman Catholic Controversy (Bethany House, 1996). Watch: James White: The Roman Catholic Controversy (Session 1: Sola Scriptura), SGFC Jax.

3. Mike Winger

   Evangelical Bible teacher; BibleThinker

   Answered by name: Trent Horn rebutted him and he answered in a two-hour reply. A very large audience; no doctorate.

   “Roman Catholicism teaches errors that seem to compromise the very gospel itself”

   Mike Winger, his video description

   Watch: Roman Catholicism: Contending for the Faith, Mike Winger.

4. Michael Horton

   Reformed; professor of systematic theology, Westminster Seminary California

   Answered by name: he and Trent Horn have answered each other on Scripture alone in the church fathers. More than forty books.

   Watch: Defending Sola Scriptura in the Church Fathers | Michael Horton Responds to Trent Horn, Sola Media.

5. Jordan Cooper

   Lutheran pastor; chair of Lutheran dogmatics, American Lutheran Theological Seminary

   Answered by name: debated Jimmy Akin on justification, and answered Bishop Barron in an hour-long reply. The Lutheran voice, closer to Rome on the sacraments than most Protestants.

   Start with: Just and Sinner. Watch: The Primary Reason Why I Am Not Convinced by Roman Catholic Claims, Dr. Jordan B Cooper.

6. Leonardo De Chirico

   Evangelical pastor in Rome; director of the Reformanda Initiative

   A doctorate (King’s College London) on Catholicism after Vatican II, and a member of an official evangelical dialogue with the Vatican. He writes from inside Rome.

   “when we do apologetics with Roman Catholics, we must understand what kind of Catholics we are talking to”

   Leonardo De Chirico, Vatican Files, 2025

   Start with: A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Papacy (Christian Focus, 2015). Watch: Leonardo De Chirico - Engaging Well with Roman Catholicism, Cambridge Apologetics.

7. Gregg Allison

   Baptist; professor of theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

   A doctorate (Trinity) and the most thorough Protestant book on the Catechism, walking through it section by section.

   “Roman Catholic Theology and Practice does not aim to be an anti-Catholic diatribe, though the critique that is offered is both sustained and pointed.”

   Gregg Allison, preface

   Start with: Roman Catholic Theology and Practice (Crossway, 2014). Watch: Roman Catholic Theology & Practice with Dr. Gregg Allison, Christ Church West Chester.

8. Chris Castaldo

   Pastor in Naperville; a former Catholic; doctorate from the London School of Theology

   Credentials, and the gentlest tone on either side: a book on how to talk about the gospel with Catholic friends.

   “a book that remains the best single resource on this question, even though its author was Catholic”

   Chris Castaldo, on Cardinal Dulles

   Start with: Talking with Catholics about the Gospel (Zondervan, 2015). Watch: Chris Castaldo | Talking with Catholics About the Gospel, wheatoncollege.

9. Wes Huff

   Reformed Baptist; Apologetics Canada; doctoral student, University of Toronto

   Answered by name: his 2026 video on why he is not Catholic drew replies from Joe Heschmeyer and Trent Horn.

   Watch: 6 reasons why I'm not Roman Catholic, Wes Huff.

Historians, not apologists

None is neutral, so each one’s own tradition is named. Both sides cite them because their trade is history.

1. Diarmaid MacCulloch

   Raised Anglican; professor of the history of the church, Oxford, 1997 to 2019

   His Reformation history won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the British Academy Book Prize.

   Start with: The Reformation (2003).

2. Eamon Duffy

   Catholic; emeritus professor of the history of Christianity, Cambridge

   Showed that late medieval English Catholicism was alive, not dying, which Protestant historians now have to answer.

   Start with: The Stripping of the Altars (Yale, 1992).

3. Jaroslav Pelikan

   Yale historian of doctrine; a Lutheran pastor who later became Orthodox

   Wrote his book on Catholicism as a Lutheran, long before his move.

   Start with: The Riddle of Roman Catholicism (Abingdon, 1959).

4. Henry Chadwick

   Anglican priest; Regius Professor at Oxford and Cambridge

   A leading historian of the early church and a member of the Anglican and Roman Catholic commission.

   Start with: The Early Church (1968).

Classic Catholic voices

Older books still answered today.

1. John Henry Newman

   Anglican priest who became a Catholic cardinal (1801 to 1890)

   The argument from the development of doctrine: that teaching grows as a seed grows, which is the Catholic answer to “where is that in the Bible?”

   “To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”

   John Henry Newman, Essay on Development

   Start with: An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845).

2. G. K. Chesterton

   English writer and convert (1874 to 1936)

   The most quoted lay convert of the last century, on why he joined.

   “The Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age.”

   G. K. Chesterton, The Catholic Church and Conversion

   Start with: The Catholic Church and Conversion (1926).

3. Robert Bellarmine

   Jesuit cardinal and saint (1542 to 1621)

   The first full Catholic answer to the Reformers, which Protestants studied for decades.

   Start with: Controversies (1581 to 1593), in Latin.

4. Frank Sheed

   Lawyer, publisher and street-corner teacher (1897 to 1981)

   Explained Catholic belief to hostile street crowds for half a century.

   Start with: Theology and Sanity (1946).

Classic Protestant voices

The Reformers and those who answered Trent.

1. Martin Luther

   The German Reformer

   The 95 Theses (1517), the text the Reformation is dated from.

   “The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.”

   Martin Luther, thesis 62

   Start with: The 95 Theses.

2. John Calvin

   French Reformer (1509 to 1564)

   The Reformed case on justification and the church, in one system.

   “removed from the catalogue of sinners, he has God as the witness and assertor of his righteousness”

   John Calvin, Institutes 3.11

   Start with: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, chapter 11.

3. Martin Chemnitz

   Lutheran theologian, “the second Martin” (1522 to 1586)

   Wrote the standard Lutheran answer to the Council of Trent, decree by decree.

   Start with: Examination of the Council of Trent (1573; English, Concordia, 1971).

4. R. C. Sproul

   Presbyterian; founder of Ligonier Ministries (1939 to 2017)

   Decades of daily teaching, and a book that answers Rome’s case on justification.

   Start with: Are We Together? (Reformation Trust, 2012).

Watch them meet

Debates and dialogues both sides point to as fair. Each loads from YouTube only when you press play.