An haife shi a ranar 23 ga Agusta, 1949, a Peoria, Illinois, Craig ne na biyu na 'ya'ya uku da aka haifa wa Mallory da Doris Craig. Aikin mahaifinsa tare da T. P. & W. jirgin kasa ya ɗauki iyalin zuwa Keokuk, Iowa, har sai da aka canja shi zuwa ofishin gida a Gabashin Peoria a 1960. Yayin da yake dalibi a Gabashin Peoria Community High School (1963<unk>1967), Craig ya zama zakara mai muhawara da mai magana da jama'a, wanda aka kira shi a shekararsa ta ƙarshe zuwa ga ƙungiyar muhawara ta jihar kuma ya lashe gasar zakarun jihar a cikin jawabi. A watan Satumba na 1965, a shekararsa ta farko, ya tuba zuwa Kristanci, kuma bayan kammala karatun sakandare, ya halarci Kwalejin Wheaton, babban jami'a a cikin sadarwa. Craig ya kammala karatu a 1971 kuma a shekara mai zuwa ya auri matarsa Jan, wanda ya sadu da shi a kan Campus na Crusade for His Christ. A shekara ta 2014, an kira shi alumnus na shekara ta 1973 a Keokuk, Iowa, har sai ya koma ofishin gida a Gabashin Peoria a shekarar 1960.
Wolfhart Pannenberg