Down through the ages has come the beautiful truth set forth in the first chapter of Genesis that God made man in His image and likeness with dominion over all the works of His hands and that this work was complete and very good. The image and likeness of the eternally pure and perfect God remains forever immaculate and unblemished. This is the truth of being which every individual must sooner or later recognize, acknowledge, and practice. Only error of thought would accept as true the suggestion of a mental condition in need of purification as depicted in the second and false account of creation given in following chapters of Genesis.
The saying, "Cleanliness is next to godliness," is widely accepted, but it is considered as relating to the human body and physical environment. In multitudes of homes there is no tolerance of any dirt. A state of human cleanliness is necessary and desirable to the ascending consciousness as evidence of rising above grossness and swinish tendencies.
The Psalmist, however, perceived something much more basic in the endeavor to rise higher in the scale of being. He prayed deeply, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults." Ps. 19:12; Also he sang: "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. . . . Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." 51:2, 7; He understood that only through purging the human mind of errors can one find true peace and freedom.
