If Something Is True

Topic: Truth, Law, & Principle

If something is true, no matter who said it, it is always from the Holy Spirit.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas, born into a noble family in Roccasecca, Italy, was a renowned Dominican friar, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. As an Italian Dominican, he was profoundly influential in the tradition of scholasticism, earning the titles of Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis. His academic journey began at the University of Naples, where he first encountered Aristotle's works that would greatly shape his future philosophical and theological perspectives. Inspired by these ideas, Aquinas joined the Dominican Order, a religious community founded by Saint Dominic dedicated to preaching and teaching.

Aquinas later traveled to Paris to pursue further studies at the prestigious University of Paris, becoming a student of Albert the Great. As a distinguished scholar and theologian, Albert the Great imparted invaluable insights that significantly influenced Aquinas's development. After concluding his studies in Paris, Aquinas returned to Italy, imparting his knowledge as a lecturer at the University of Naples and the University of Rome. In addition to his educational pursuits, he served as an advisor to the Pope, strengthening his bond with the Church.

Throughout his career, Aquinas penned numerous works, the most notable being the Summa Theologica. This extensive treatise synthesized Christian theology and philosophy, segmented into three parts that discuss God, man, and the Christian life respectively. This work, among others, solidified Aquinas's substantial impact on Catholicism, providing defensible arguments against challenges from other religious traditions and contributing significantly to the development of Catholic doctrine. The philosophy and theology of Aquinas, known as Thomism, remains influential in contemporary Catholic thought. Predicated on the reconciliation of faith and reason, Thomism has evolved with scholars like John of St. Thomas, Francisco Suarez, and Jacques Maritain further refining its principles. Its application extends beyond theology, influencing fields such as philosophy, law, economics, and facilitating dialogue between religion and science.

(ca. 1225-1274) Christianity
De Veritate

Aquinas, Thomas. Truth (Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate). Translated by James V. McGlynn, Henry Regnery Company, 1953, q. 1, a. 8. [Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate, q. 1, a. 8.].

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Theme: Truth

About This St. Thomas Aquinas Quotation [Commentary]

Thomas Aquinas affirms truth’s divine origin when he writes, “If something is true, no matter who said it, it is always from the Holy Spirit.” He places truth above the status or identity of its speaker. What matters is not who speaks, but whether the words reflect what is real. This clarity shifts focus away from boundaries—religious, cultural, or intellectual—and toward the Spirit’s movement wherever truth appears. Thomas’s words ask for humility: a willingness to listen and to recognize that the Holy Spirit may speak through any voice.

This teaching is rooted in Thomas Aquinas’s view of the unity between faith and reason. Under the influence of Albert the Great, he came to see the study of nature as a sacred path to understanding. He writes in the Summa theologiae that “all truth irrespective of who expresses it, comes from the Holy Spirit” (1-2.109.1). For Thomas, theology and the natural sciences are not opposed; both are drawn by the same Spirit toward the same end. If something is true, its origin is divine—whether it is spoken in a scientific discovery, a philosophical insight, or a religious teaching. This conviction calls for openness across all fields of knowledge.

Thomas Aquinas’s words remain relevant in a world often shaped by division. His teaching does not lead to relativism but to a deeper reverence for what is true. To say that truth is “always from the Holy Spirit” is to trust that God’s presence is not confined to one tradition or language. It is an invitation to listen widely and carefully, recognizing that all who seek truth—whatever their path—are responding to the same Spirit. For Thomas, it is this shared desire for what is true that creates common ground between the scientist, the philosopher, and the person of faith.

Fr. Richard Rohr Commentary [Excerpts]

“I was born 75 years ago today. I know 75 is a somewhat arbitrary number, yet our culture has assigned it some significance. CAC staff encouraged me to share my journey, and they sifted through old photo albums to illustrate my very human path. So today I offer a few reflections from my own “particular” life. I hope you, too, can see in your life your own unique manifestation of the image and likeness of God, each of us “crying what I do is me: for that I came” in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ words. …

This one Holy Spirit has moved through all of us over time—creating the Franciscans and the Second Vatican Council for Catholics, the Baptism in the Spirit for many Protestants, deep mystical movements in all faith traditions, and a growing recognition, as St. Thomas Aquinas often wrote, “If something is true, no matter who said it, it is always from the Holy Spirit.” In time, I could not help but see the many faces of Christ and the Spirit in serene Hindus, native peoples in love with the natural world, my socially conscious Jewish friends, profound Buddhist wisdom, Sufi God-lovers, and, of course, in loving Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants of every stripe, often in spite of their denomination or theology rather than because of it.”

―St. Thomas Aquinas often wrote, “If something is true, no matter who said it, it is always from the Holy Spirit.”
BY Mvenner, March 31, 2018.

* Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate, q. 1, a. 8. The statement “Omne verum, a quocumque dicatur, a Spiritu Sancto est” was used repeatedly by Aquinas; he gave credit for it to Ambrose, an earlier Doctor of the Church.

Fr. Billy Swan Commentary, The Truth of Things

Here I argue that the thought of St. Thomas is again required by the Church to dialogue confidently with modern science [one of three reasons why]…

Thomas invites us to love both the natural sciences and the science of faith. Under the influence of St. Albert the Great (c. 1200-1280), Thomas appreciated the scientific study of creation as an enterprise of observation, discovery, and contemplation of all that God had made. He saw a harmony between science and faith, since, for Thomas, it is truth that unites both faith and the natural sciences. He wrote that “all truth irrespective of who expresses it, comes from the Holy Spirit” (Summa theologiae, 1-2.109.1). This means that for both the believer and the scientist, what unites them is a passion for what is true.

What also unites them is a disdain for relativism. The implications of this insight for us today is that we should not be afraid to dialogue with science—to know its power and its limits. When I worked in science, the study of physics, chemistry, and biology were not threats to my faith but routes to contemplation of all God’s handiwork, which moved me to praise him even more.

―Fr. Billy Swan, St. Thomas Aquinas and Our Dialogue with Modern Science, January 28, 2021.

If Something Is True

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