Why assume that time has a beginning or an end? Why assume that God, or a conscious universe, needed to create itself or have a beginning in time. These are anthropomorphic concepts based on our own understanding of time. As spooky and mystical as it sounds, it may be that universal consciousness has always been, without beginning and without end.
“Why assume that time has a beginning or an end?”
We don’t assume. We know the universe must have a beginning because we scientifically demonstrated the alternative hypotheses do not conform to the observed universe that we live in.
“Why assume that God, or a conscious universe, needed to create itself or have a beginning in time.”
God and the universe are separate questions. God is by definition supernatural and outside the universe. So science can’t tell us much of anything about Him. But the universe is natural, bound by physical laws, and observable to us at least to an extent, so science can inform us about the universe quite a bit.
“These are anthropomorphic concepts based on our own understanding of time.”
No, math and physics are not anthropomorphic concepts.
Time is Nature’s way of making sure that everything does not happen at once.