What Is Fathom?

Kelsey, Editor in Chief

Cynthia Ozick, a short story writer, novelist, and essayist once said, “I don’t agree with the sentiment ‘write what you know.’ . . . I think one should write what one doesn’t know. The world is bigger and wider and more complex than our small subjective selves. One should prod, goad the imagination.” I agree with Cynthia. We talk about basically any topic on Fathom because we believe that Christ permeates all things. For me, that means God is too vast for us to write as if we know everything. My grand dreams are that Fathom would become a prod for thinking and goad the imagination as we consider Christianity. I am discontent with a lazy faith. I don’t like winning arguments against straw men. I am tired of relinquishing my responsibility to understand something for myself. So I want to ask questions, propose new perspectives, and challenge status quo answers for the sake of understanding. I want to give a voice to the people capable of convincing us that consideration brings depth to faith.

Jon, Managing Editor

To be honest, I don’t really know. I mean I know that I am here because I love writing, I love stories, and I am a pretty curious fella. I think one of the things I want to avoid in this magazine is being super narrow-minded and making it just about one thing. I would love to see it evolve into whatever our contributors and readers want it to be about. Ask me this question in a few months, after we’ve had a couple issues under our belts and we’ve heard the voice of the people. This isn’t really our endevor into the world—this is our invitation to the world to come and be curious with us. Let’s figure out what this Fathom thing is together. (I should put that on a motivational poster.)

Brandon, Content Editor

To me Fathom is a bridge. There is a great divide between religious and irreligious people, between intellectuals and the laiety, between those on the left and those on the right. Those groups are often insular and adversarial toward each other, like tribes yelling across a canyon. Fathom, on the other hand, is meant to be a space where we can disagree, discover, and dive deeper together into what it means to be human.

Drew, Media Director

I think Fathom is a place for needed conversations to begin in the Christian community. We all have two kinds of belief: embedded beliefs and evaluated beliefs. The former are beliefs we hold because our culture and experiences assume they are true. Evaluated beliefs are tested. We need to test our culture and our assumptions. We can start, and even catalyze, the process, but for it to be effective, you must continue the conversations in your community in truth and love.