In Golden Splendor: It all comes down to WHY a judge pardons

Description: (from Amazon)

Irish immigrant Seamus Hanley is a lost soul, haunted by his past as a U.S. Army deserter and living alone in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains in 1849. But after witnessing a deadly stage coach crash, he finds purpose in the scattered wreckage -- a letter with a picture of a beautiful and captivating woman named Ashlyn living in San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush. Moved by her written plea for help, he abandons all and sets out on an epic journey across the wild and picturesque American frontier. While being pursued by those who want to hang him, Seamus encounters fascinating characters including a young Pauite Indian who makes the ultimate sacrifice in helping Seamus to cross the snowy Yosemite Valley. Battered but changed for the better, Seamus reaches San Francisco on Christmas Eve as the city burns in the tragic fire of 1849. But there is little time for rest, as an even greater, more harrowing adventure involving Ashlyn is about to begin.

In Golden Splendor by Michael K Reynolds is another book from my church library. Yeah, this is a thing now. I’m even starting to develop a sort of format for reviewing the books. We will be looking at it from two angles, the fictional story and the gospel story, to the extent that there is one.

The fiction Story

The story is a good one; man mounts massive effort to find the girl of his dreams and arrives in time to be a hero. The catalyst, the photograph, which is explained in the description above, was an intriguing one. It was clever to give the main character a motivation that was as much of a mystery to him as it was to the reader. However, that concept was exhausted half way in and a major shift had to occur to change the thrust of the story. The second half was supposed to be the main meat of the story, it is what the description is set up to tease, but in all honesty, I enjoyed the first half more.

The main character, Seamus Hanley, did reach the goal that he was running to, but he still had not shaken what he was running from. Seamus was a wanted man, an army deserter and a horse thief. He only manages to stay ahead of the authorities by embarking on an additional adventure to help the woman whose image lured him over the mountains.

It comes down to a trial and a judge; more about that in the gospel story section, but a full pardon is granted and Seamus dose marry the girl, after all, while the story is full of adventure it is best labeled romance.

The Gospel Story

In Golden Splendor is a typical run of the mill Christian book, that is to say that the gospel was not completely displayed, but the usual Christian themes such as faith, redemption, forgiveness, etc. were clear. I remember, at one point, wondering what made it a Christian book and why it was in the Church’s library. That was at about the half way mark. It was not until later that deeper and more meaningful themes were revealed. That's understandable as illustrations can take time to set up.

From the first half we see the set up of some character development. During his dangerous journey to the west coast, Seamus gained and lost two friends and was confronted by what it means to be sacrificial. To a small extant those experiences were later drawn upon for spiritual character growth. In a larger extant they were drawn upon to propel Seamus to risk his own life to save a drowning boy.

It was not until after Seamus arrived in San Francisco that the majority of his spiritual development took place. He met up with a reverend, for whom he worked, and from whom he learned a deeper understanding of the Christian faith. He later put those things into practice, ultimately becoming a reverend himself.

Perhaps the best illustration of the gospel in Reynolds' In Golden Splendor was when he reached back to the beginning of the story and reminded us that Seamus was a criminal of sorts, an army deserter as well as a horse thief, yet, at trial he was granted a full pardon. The scene reminds us that we are all guilty before a holy judge, the same judge from whom we receive our merciful pardon.

However, In Golden Splendor did not perfectly hit the gospel mark because a believer's crimes, be it desertion or stealing, is not simply pardoned, but rather the penalty is transferred to a scapegoat - that's Jesus. In that way the judge who will judge the entire world is both holy, and merciful. In Seamus' case, his merciful judge happened to be the father of a boy who was recently saved from drowning. It's cringe worth to see that Seamus' good works earned his freedom. I mean, whose splendor is it that's so golden?

Until next blog, remember Christ, the author of salvation and the reader of hearts.