Analogously, one could claim something like "as long as time has existed, the universe has existed". To simply say that "the universe has always existed" is highly misleading; without further qualification of what is meant by "always" this would suggest the Greek concept of an eternal universe.
How would having always existed suggest an eternal universe? Having always existed says nothing about what will happen in the future.
I agree that statements like "have always existed" can have more than one meaning, but people who are aware of the different possibilities simply need to ask more questions to find out what is meant.
In other words, having always existed does not suggest the Greek idea of an eternal universe to me.
The claim that "as long as time has existed, the universe has existed" leaves us with more questions, however:
1) is this claim (that time "began" when the universe "began") really true? How do we test this scientifically or prove it logically? It seems to be the common opinion among cosmologists, but do we have any solid reasons for claiming it?
All valid questions in my opinion.
2) what does this imply about a "beginning" of time? Did time "begin to exist" at some point? And if so, what exactly does this mean?
These questions, however would be nonsense.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.