are mercy and wrath attributes of God?

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T.A.G.

Puritan Board Freshman
I have been of the understanding that mercy and wrath for example, are not attributes but things that stem from God's love and goodness or for wrath, His holiness etc. For example, because God is eternal and immutable He would have that attribute before creation etc. All attributes are eternal inter-trinitarian manifestation thus, mercy and wrath would not be attributes.

I have read some systematics or books on the attributes of God and some of them have wrath and mercy as attributes and others do not. Why do some list these as attributes and others do not?
 
to add to this, how would you define an attribute of God or what are the qualifications to being an attribute of God? ( i am trying to take a poll here)
 
I just took a class with K. Scott Oliphint at Westminster called The Doctrine of God that you can download for free from iTunesU. The distinction here is between God's essential attributes, and God's covenantal attributes. God is essentially immutable, simple, etc. because that is how God would be no matter the circumstances. God cannot be anything other than his essential attributes. God is covenantally wrathful against sin because God freely chooses to create the world and respond to sin in wrath. I think the essential/covenantal attributes distinction makes a lot more sense than the more popular communicable/incommunicable attributes scheme. Thus, God's essential attributes are those things he is in and of himself. His covenantal attributes are those things that God is in his condescension to creation.
 
I like your response Jacob.

What I thought of at first reading the OP was: wrath and mercy seem like more of "expressions" than "attributes." They are exhibitions of a deeper essence. And I think that's what is being got at by the attribute-distinctions offered, be it under comm/incomm, or ess/cov species.
Just my :2cents:
 
yes I agree, I think wrath and mercy are verbs of the attributes of holy, truth, love, justice etc.
 
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