Too much, too many, return to the start.

[Tellyontellyon]

I'm baffled by the different churches.
There are a few different kinds of Catholics, there are Trinitarians and non-trinitarians, messianic Jews, Baptist's, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals etc. etc. each splintered into a thousand other churches... Structures, organisations, theology, practice... Everybody reads the Bible according to their own point of view.
It's impossible...

Please...
What records are there of the early Christians, both in the Bible and outside the bible. Historical documents of the first few generations of Christians? What did they believe, how were they organised, what did they practice?

 

[The Transcendentian]

I'm baffled by the different churches.
There are a few different kinds of Catholics, there are Trinitarians and non-trinitarians, messianic Jews, Baptist's, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals etc. etc. each splintered into a thousand other churches... Structures, organisations, theology, practice... Everybody reads the Bible according to their own point of view.
It's impossible...

Please...
What records are there of the early Christians, both in the Bible and outside the bible. Historical documents of the first few generations of Christians? What did they believe, how were they organised, what did they practice?

Dis-unity in the Church. This does seem to be a problem. Not one I have the solution to though.
Everyone will just tell you that the early Church lines up perfectly with their personally preferred "church".

 

[Carl Emerson]

I'm baffled by the different churches.
There are a few different kinds of Catholics, there are Trinitarians and non-trinitarians, messianic Jews, Baptist's, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals etc. etc. each splintered into a thousand other churches... Structures, organisations, theology, practice... Everybody reads the Bible according to their own point of view.
It's impossible...

Please...
What records are there of the early Christians, both in the Bible and outside the bible. Historical documents of the first few generations of Christians? What did they believe, how were they organised, what did they practice?

Sounds like you would benefit from attending some lectures on Church History...

However, whichever way you look at it, it will appear to be gobbledygook without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit guiding you into the truth of the matter.

So the understanding you seek has only one starting point - a response to Jesus who requires all to repent of sin, give control of your life to Him, and be indwelled by His presence.

'Follow me' was His first requirement and that remains so today.

You will never grasp Truth from the outside looking in.

Jesus is Truth in human form - repent of your sin and follow Him into Truth.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

I'm baffled by the different churches.
There are a few different kinds of Catholics, there are Trinitarians and non-trinitarians, messianic Jews, Baptist's, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals etc. etc. each splintered into a thousand other churches... Structures, organisations, theology, practice... Everybody reads the Bible according to their own point of view.
It's impossible...

Please...
What records are there of the early Christians, both in the Bible and outside the bible. Historical documents of the first few generations of Christians? What did they believe, how were they organised, what did they practice?

You mean outside the Bible like this?

The Didache: A Moral and Liturgical Document of Instruction

 

[GreekOrthodox]

Please...
What records are there of the early Christians, both in the Bible and outside the bible. Historical documents of the first few generations of Christians? What did they believe, how were they organised, what did they practice?

There are letters, sermons and especially councils of how the early church functioned and what challenges it faced. Collectively they are known as the Early Church Fathers or ECF. The earliest of them were taught by the Apostles themselves and are known as the Apostolic Fathers and some of their writings were under consideration as Scripture. Even today, their writings have considerable influence on modern Christianity especially for the Apostolic churches mainly seen in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Catholic churches. Some Protestant bodies, especially Lutheran and Anglican, still hold these documents as extremely valuable.

Church Fathers - Wikipedia

 

[hedrick]

If you read the letters of Paul there's plenty of evidence of disagreements in the early church as well. These disagreements got more serious during the first few centuries. It's not so clear that it resulted in separate congregations, but then with a few dozen members in a city that would be hard.

Note that separate denominations doesn't mean that those churches have major disagreements. Nor are the groups you list of the same significance. Examples:

* There aren't very many non-trinitarian Christians. The major ones are one branch of Pentecostalism and the JWs
* Many of the arguments you see in CF aren't actually between churches. Both sides are held by members of the same church. Indeed I'm a lot closer to most US Catholics than those Catholics are to conservative Catholics or I am to conservative members of my own denomination.
* Theologically, the big difference is between conservative / Evangelical and liberal / mainline. While people in CF will argue about anything, there's been a convergence among conservative churches led by groups like the National Association of Evangelicals, and shown by statements like the Chicago Statement on inerrancy. Similarly, theologians and scholars in mainline churches (and the US Catholic Church) are pretty much a single community. Increasingly they are negotiating full communion agreements that allow exchange of pastors.

 

[bling]

I'm baffled by the different churches.
There are a few different kinds of Catholics, there are Trinitarians and non-trinitarians, messianic Jews, Baptist's, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals etc. etc. each splintered into a thousand other churches... Structures, organisations, theology, practice... Everybody reads the Bible according to their own point of view.
It's impossible...

Please...
What records are there of the early Christians, both in the Bible and outside the bible. Historical documents of the first few generations of Christians? What did they believe, how were they organised, what did they practice?

The early Church had severe persecution to help cleanse out the hypocrites and unite everyone behind what was important. The Unregistered Church in China today with an estimated 120 million church going believers is very united, but it has no central leader other then Christ.

 

[ViaCrucis]

I'm baffled by the different churches.
There are a few different kinds of Catholics, there are Trinitarians and non-trinitarians, messianic Jews, Baptist's, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals etc. etc. each splintered into a thousand other churches... Structures, organisations, theology, practice... Everybody reads the Bible according to their own point of view.
It's impossible...

Please...
What records are there of the early Christians, both in the Bible and outside the bible. Historical documents of the first few generations of Christians? What did they believe, how were they organised, what did they practice?

The sources you are looking for are the writings of the Church Fathers and the historic Creeds.

My go-to source for where to read the Church Fathers online is here:
CHURCH FATHERS: Home

The earliest writings of the fathers include:
- The Teaching of the Twelve aka The Didache (c. 60-100 AD)
- The Epistle of St. Clement of Rome to the Corinthians (c. 95 AD)
- The seven letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 107 AD)
- The extant fragments from the otherwise lost writings of St. Papias of Hieropolis (c. 95-110 AD)
- The Epistle to the Ephesians by St. Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 110-140 AD)

For the Creeds, see here:
The Niceno-Constantinoplian Creed of 381 AD (aka The Nicene Creed)
The Nicene Creed

The Apostles' Creed
Apostles Creed

The Apostles' Creed, as we have it today, dates to about the 8th century, but is based upon one of the oldest creedal formulas we have, namely the Old Roman Symbol (3rd century) and earlier baptismal creeds of the 2nd century.

The Quicumque Vult or Athanasian Creed
Quicumque

While the name of St. Athanasius is attached here, he had nothing to do with it, as it dates to several centuries after St. Athanasius the Great (4th century).

Of these, the Nicene Creed is the most important, and most universal confession of Christianity--Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox alike. Indeed, a rejection of the Nicene Creed is viewed as paramount to a rejection of the Christian religion itself.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[aiki]

I'm baffled by the different churches.
There are a few different kinds of Catholics, there are Trinitarians and non-trinitarians, messianic Jews, Baptist's, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals etc. etc. each splintered into a thousand other churches... Structures, organisations, theology, practice... Everybody reads the Bible according to their own point of view.
It's impossible...

And it's not really the case. In my city, there are Baptist, Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Free, Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Lutheran and a host of non-denominational churches. All of these, though, have a basic set of doctrines in common. Concerning the nature of God, the truths of the Gospel, the divinely-inspired nature of the Bible, the future coming of Christ, and other assorted orthodox Christian doctrines, these denominations are in agreement. Many of them began for cultural reasons, originating in Swedish, or German, or British culture. Some are distinct more for reasons of governmental structure than doctrine. Others want to avoid labeling. But they all share many of the same basic, fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.

 

[DragonFox91]

Read up on church history. Read the Bible yourself. Attend different churches, attend different churches in different denominations. Talk to different people. Listen to different sermons.

I don't think there's enough to differentiate most of the denominations.

Most of what concerns the different denominations today is how to apply the Word w/ today's challenges, & less about theology & church organization, b/c those things tend to be in agreement.