Editing Tree of life (biblical) (section)

== Number of trees ==
[[Karl Budde]], in his [[Historical-critical method|critical study]] of 1883, proposed that there was only one tree in the body of the [[Book of Genesis|Genesis narrative]], and that it had been portrayed in two ways: one as the tree in the middle of the Garden, and two as the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil|forbidden tree]]. [[Claus Westermann]] gave recognition to Budde's theory in 1976.<ref>{{harvnb|Mettinger|2007|p=7}}</ref>

[[Ellen van Wolde]] noted that among [[Bible scholar]]s "the trees are almost always dealt with separately and not related to each other" and that "attention is almost exclusively directed to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, whereas the tree of life is paid hardly any attention."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Van Wolde |first1=Ellen |title=Words Become Worlds |date=1994 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9004098879 |page=32}}</ref>