[kosciusko51]

Christianity today bears no resemblance to the early church

No resemblance?As I see it, neither does Judaism bear much resemblance to the Temple-worshiping Jews of the first century.

and those that disagreed were apostates and heretics and subsequently killed ....

I don't remember a lot of heretic killing by the Church until after the Roman emperor Constantine supposedly became a Christian. IIRC, I think that it was Christians being killed as apostates and heretics by both Jews and Romans. In the first century AD, it was a lot easier not to be a Christian than to be one.

[SkyDancer]

Yep, we Jews do have different denominations as well. And true to point, it was after some of those early meetings where defense of Christianity was being sorted out. Early Christians were certainly being sought out and killed. Then came Constantine and all was well, sorta ....

BTW, I'm a Messianic Jew ....crazy, huh?