In normative Christian theology, as well as the declaration of the First Council of Nicaea, God is declared to be "one". Declarations such as "God is three" or "God is two" are condemned in later counsels as entirely heretical and idolatrous. The beginning of the essential declaration of belief for Christians, the Nicene Creed (somewhat equivalent to Maimonides' 13 principles of Faith), starts with the Shema influenced declaration that "We Believe in One God..." Like Judaism, Christianity asserts the absolute monotheism of God.