Jeremiah Moore

Jeremiah Moore (June 7, 1746 – February 23, 1815) was an American Baptist minister who was an early advocate of religious freedom and the separation of church and state in Virginia.

Biography Jeremiah Moore was born on June 7, 1746, in Stafford County, Virginia. In November 1765, he married Lydia Reno. They had five sons and four daughters.

Religious leader From a young age, Moore became a lay minister in the Episcopal Church, drawing an annual salary of 2,400 pounds of tobacco. While in his twenties, he was baptized and ordinated as a Baptist in 1772. In 1773, he preached in Alexandria to challenge the restrictions on licensing ministers of other denominations. He was apprehended and jailed by authorities at least once, and continued to preach while briefly imprisoned.

In 1773, Moore was one of the religious leaders who petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for the freedom to practice their religion without interference or persecution from civil authorities, which eventually led to the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Moore's stance of religious liberty and separation of church and state brought him to the attention of various political leaders, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Mason. Moore was a founder of the First Baptist Church of Washington, First Baptist Church of Alexandria, and Second Baptist Church of Washington.

Death and legacy Moore died on February 23, 1815, aged 68.

Works

An Enquiry Into the Nature and Propriety of Ecclesiastical Establishments (1808) The Jerusalem Which is Above (1808)