The Tree as a Christian Image of Life, Knowledge and Wisdom: Its Articulation in Augustine, Sabunde and Descartes

In Christianity, the tree symbolizes both human and divine life and is closely associated with wisdom and with the knowledge of good and evil, whose root is love. This article examines the symbolism of the tree with a twofold aim. First, and more extensively, it explores the process of secularization that transformed the understanding of life and wisdom in the early modern period through a comparative analysis of the symbolism of the tree in Augustine, Sabunde, and Descartes. Second, it offers a brief reflection on the contemporary world, the legacy of modernity, in which the human condition has come to be represented by figures that contrast sharply with the symbolism of the tree: the castaway, the vagabond, and the tourist. Drawing on the symbolism of the tree and the thought of Augustine, Sabunde, and Descartes, the article examines three fundamental dimensions of human existence: self-knowledge; the human relationship with nature, with others, and with God; and, finally, the articulation between the active and the contemplative life.