Christopher Krall, SJ, PhD

Assistant Professor

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Contact

ChristopherKrall@creighton.edu
Jesuit Community
Theology
DHHC - Dowling Hall/Humanities Center

Christopher Krall, SJ, PhD

Assistant Professor

Christopher Krall, SJ is a priest of the Society of Jesus and an assistant professor of theology and neuroscience.  He has a Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary research of systematic theology and neuroscience from Marquette University (’22).  He also has previous degrees from Boston College (BA, BS (’05), MDiv, ThM, STL (’15)), University of Toronto (MA (’10)), and Oxford University (MSt (’17)).  The title of his dissertation is “The Human Person Fully Alive: The Transformation of the Body, Brain, Mind, and Soul of Humanity in the Encounter with the Divinity.”  He enjoys running marathons, doing triathlons, hiking big mountains, playing most sports, and baking sourdough bread.

Teaching Interests

  • Navy Chaplain in Active Reserve Unity

Research Focus

The neuroscience of Christian contemplative prayer practices and their effects on conversion in the midst of suffering and human flourishing

Department

Theology

Position

Assistant Professor

Publications

  • Journal of Moral Theology
    Christopher Krall, The modern crisis of social isolation is a devastating and lethal phenomenon encompassing many dimensions of human life: the sociological, psychological, neuro-psychological, and spiritual. Loneliness and disengagement leave existential longings within the hearts and minds of persons, causing depression, anxiety, and the fragmentation of community. Yves Congars ecclesiological and pneumatological theology explicates the fulfillment of humanitys deepest longings when individuals gather as a communal body realized in the ideal form of the Church, a supra-ecclesial community. When people share their unique charisms gained through the grace of the Holy Spirit for the good of the community, a healing grace permeates into individual hearts and restores communal relationships. The article has three sections. The first section describes the detrimental consequences of isolation and the spiritual perils of social distancing and human separation. The second develops Congars theological insights into how community allows for participation in the life of the Trinitarian God. The third section applies Congars theological principles to practical pastoral healing remedies for the tendencies of division within the present age, especially dealing with the global pandemic. When each person becomes receptive to the action of the Holy Spirit, who unifies the Body of Christ, the fullness of life emerges.
    Vol. 11, Issue Special Issue 2, 2022, p. 180-202 2022

Grants

  • The Theology and Neuroscience of Suffering: Implications, Complexities, and Conversions/Sponsor: CURAS Magis Investigatio Research Award/MIRA

  • Integration Through Education: Pedagogical Innovation in Science and Religion/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant

  • The Healing Effects of the Ignatian Examen and Self-Healing Communities on Trauma/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant