Many Christian denominations teach that they alone are the true church .
They believe that they alone can trace their lineage directly back to the primitive, first century Christian church. They view the thousand or more other Christian denominations as having split away from their own church at some point in history. Some faith groups teach unique concepts about the origin of the Christian church and their denomination. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Jesus selected Peter to be the temporal ruler of the church. Peter traveled to Rome, presumably with his wife, and reigned there as the first Pope.