The intellectual life may be kept clean and healthful, if man will live the life of nature, and not import into his mind difficulties which are none of his. No man need be perplexed in his speculations. Let him do and say what strictly belongs to him, and, though very ignorant of books, his nature shall not yield him any intellectual obstructions and doubts. Our young people are diseased with the theological problems of original sin, origin of evil, predestination, and the like. These never presented a practical difficulty to any man,—never darkened across any man's road, who did not go out of his way to seek them. These are the soul's mumps, and measles, and whooping-coughs, and those who have not caught them cannot describe their health or prescribe the cure. A simple mind will not know these enemies. It is quite another thing that he should be able to give account of his faith, and expound to another the theory of his self-union and freedom. This requires rare gifts. Yet, without this self-knowledge, there may be a sylvan strength and integrity in that which he is. "A few strong instincts and a few plain rules" suffice us.

This excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Spiritual Laws" hits on a whole heap o' big Transcendentalist themes. First of all, there's the surefire emphasis on nature. He's all about how the best way to lead a "clean and healthful" intellectual life is to "live the life of nature." Who knew that going out for a roll in the grass could boost ya in the IQ department?

Second, we can see the criticism of conventional religious orthodoxy all over this passage. The Transcendentalists, as we all know, were very critical of conventional religion. Spirituality? Pile it on! Six hours in mass? Um, thanks but no thanks.

So Emerson gets into the nitty-gritty of the thing by saying we shouldn't worry ourselves with things like original sin (gettin' jiggy, making whoopee…you know) or predestination (the idea that it's preset whether you'll land at the pearly gates of Heaven or its fiery neighbor downstairs). Why? Well, there's no need to complicate our spiritual lives.

What we need to do instead is rely on our instincts to guide us when it comes to spiritual matters. Let's cut out the rules and the uncomfortable benches and just focus on our instincts.

Emerson was a master of the essay form. Like, if he were in an English class, he's the one all the other students would try to copy off of. And indeed, a lot of his most important works are essays. Emerson used the essay form to clarify his Transcendentalist worldview and to communicate it to a wider audience. Convenient, eh?

And there's more! The essay genre was especially useful given Emerson's aims because it's all about argument. Emerson, remember, was introducing new ideas to people. Ideas that went against much of conventional wisdom. Like thinking nature was a road to getting better grades. And saying the Church didn't have all the answers. Yeah, especially that second one.

He needed to convince people, and essays allowed him to put forward his arguments in a way that was clear and concise. Besides, his essays are like poetry. Or does that defeat the purpose of how important it is that they're essays?