Dr. Craig is a liar.

[RoadRunner79]

Of course I mean causally prior. That was the sentence I highlighted in your post. Regarding causation, we would have to distinguish between efficient and material causation. For material causation, the cause would have to precede its effect. For efficient causation, the cause can simultaneous with its effect.

Since the idea of God creating the universe would be ex nihilo, there is no material causation--only efficient causation. So, I have not "abandoned" the causal principle and the rest of your conclusions do not follow. 

If nothing exists necessarily, everything exists contingently. Contingent things have an explanation for their existence. Why is there something rather than nothing? To say "I don't know" to that question and then tell a theist that the idea of God is ridiculous is, at best, inconsistent.

I have heard the argument, that even in a physical cause/effect relationship, that the cause is temporally simultaneous to the effect. It is logically prior however. I believe it makes sense. If you are moving an object, you do not have the cause and then some time later produce the effect. What leads us to view it as before and after, is that we see the events leading up to the cause, and the effects continuing after. There is also often a series of cause and effect relationships, which we may not always notice.

Imagine a billiards game, where the cue ball is striking the object ball, and causing it to move. If we make the assumption that there is no compression, the transfer of energy is going be simultaneous as the balls make contact. In reality there is going to be some compression, which is the series of cause and effects relationships and may be why we think there is a delay.