The early medieval period - NOT amateur radio

One of the joys of retirement is learning for fun. One of my blanks is early medieval history, so I am doing a University of the Third Age course on Medieval History. 

We are now well through the autumn term, so I thought it would be a good thing to make a note of the main things that I have recently been made aware of. Not all relate to Medieval History.

• In the early Christian church there were lots of different beliefs
• What was actually included in what we now know as the bible was a distillation done many centuries later.
• In many ways early Islam was more tolerant than early Christianity.
• The modern state of Israel was not what the UK 1917 Balfour Declaration expected. Jewish homeland yes, Jewish state, no.
• Many of the Jews in modern Israel may not be descended from the Jews of old!
• Many Arabs hate the West as our track record is poor.
• Religions have a lot to answer for over the centuries.