On this page is a religion tree (in five parts—though feel free to download the tree in its entirety) that can serve as a very rough map for exploring how the different sects of the Abrahamic religions relate to each other. It would be impossible to create a 100% accurate map; the map provided is only meant to serve as a rough reference point. The best way to use this map is to start at the base branch that contains the last human (or entity on earth) that you believe shared divinely-inspired teaching and then begin to work your way forward, tracing how various groups interpreted those teachings. 

As you work your way along the tree, perform research to understand why the people of each sect had a different interpretation of the teachings than you do. Think through what specific historical factors may have lead them to misinterpret the meaning behind specific aspects of your religious tradition and note similarities between those historical factors and ones that may have influenced the genesis of your own tradition. It is natural to have a blindspot to missteps in our own belief systems, but by spotting missteps in similar but related traditions, we can better mark areas of our own belief system that require more careful scrutiny. 

This investigation will not be an easy or quick task, but if it gets you closer to truth, it is patently worth your effort. Sometimes this task may be as simple as clarifying why you believe the canon of religious texts you follow to be correct (such as coming to an understanding of why the Gnostic Gospels are dismissed by modern Christians and the more mainstream canon is accepted). 

This task may be as complicated as parsing out elements of truth from a historical political or power struggle within a religious organization that resulted in different sects that ultimately interpret the same texts quite differently. You may find yourself agreeing with elements of each interpretation when you dig into the logic behind these differences. In other instances, you may be delighted to find a small element to truth in an interpretation of the religious texts that is no longer common for reasons other than the truth of said interpretation (such as the difficulty proselytizing the predestination of the Calvinists or the celibacy of the Shakers).