Note that English is not my mother-tongue.
Would a native speaker understand that the following sentence is trying to convey that the protagonist is relieved by the fact that he'd been able to set down his heavy backpack, or would they rather be confused due to the theological origin of the term "salvific"?
The backpack thumped down on the parched ground with a salvific thud.
If the word is bewildering (or plain wrong) here, what would be a better alternative?
Update: After all the commotion I have reconsidered my word of choice and came up with an alternative, that, as I believe, is more apt in the context.
The backpack thumped down on the parched ground with an extricating thud.