In the same way I can assign a property to anything definitionally. For example, I may say 'Unicorns have a horn'. I'm not saying that unicorns exist and have a horn, but that if unicorns existed, they would have a horn. It's a quality they possess by definition, and they don't have to exist for that statement to be correct.
So what premise 1 is saying is that if God exists, he has the property of 'being eternal'. It is just part of the definition of God, in the same way omnipotence is. At this point in the argument, no claims are being made regarding God's existence.
Cleanthes
So what premise 1 is saying is that if God exists, he has the property of 'being eternal'. It is just part of the definition of God, in the same way omnipotence is. At this point in the argument, no claims are being made regarding God's existence.
Cleanthes