Daily Inspiration Quote by Adam Clarke

Clarke’s line lands like a pastor’s gentle admonition that’s also a shrewd piece of persuasion: he welds “duty” to “interest,” making Bible reading sound not merely pious but rationally self-serving. That pairing matters. “Duty” invokes obligation to God, church, and community; “interest” speaks to the Enlightenment-era language of prudence, self-improvement, and personal benefit. Clarke isn’t asking for devotional browsing. “Deeply consider” is a preemptive strike against casual faith and inherited religiosity. It targets the reader’s will, not just their habits.

The subtext is defensive and democratic at once. In a period when Protestant culture increasingly prized individual conscience and literacy, urging direct engagement with Scripture asserts a kind of spiritual citizenship: don’t outsource your theology to clergy, rumor, or tradition. Read it yourself. Yet it also polices the boundaries of acceptable knowledge. By framing Scripture reading as both moral obligation and practical advantage, Clarke positions the Bible as the primary text through which one should interpret life, ethics, and even public order.

Context sharpens the stakes. Clarke, a major Methodist commentator, lived amid religious revivals, expanding print culture, and rising skepticism. “Duty and interest” is the rhetoric of a world where faith must compete with other reading material, other authorities, other explanations. The sentence works because it flatters autonomy while steering it: you’re free to choose, but the responsible, intelligent choice has already been named.