I have often felt I needed something like this

In speaking with those of the American, Christian, born-again persuasion I have often felt that I needed the help of a translator. Not for every word, just a few words that seem, within certain religious circles, to have an entirely different meaning from everyday English. Turns out there is such a book:

Many Americans are bilingual. They speak a secular language of sports talk, celebrity gossip and current events. But mention religion and some become armchair preachers who pepper their conversations with popular Christian words and trendy theological phrases. If this is you, some Christian pastors and scholars have some bad news: You may not know what you’re talking about. They say that many contemporary Christians have become pious parrots. They constantly repeat Christian phrases that they don’t understand or distort.

So even the native speakers don't understand the language. Glad I'm not the only one. There is a group of people though who do understand the power of Christian speak: politicians.

During his 2003 State of the Union address, George W. Bush baffled some listeners when he declared that there was “wonder-working power” in the goodness of American people. Evangelical ears, though, perked up at that phrase. It was an evangelical favorite, drawn from a popular 19 th century revival hymn about the wonder-working power of Christ called “In the Precious Blood of the Lamb.” Leonard says Bush was sending a coded message to evangelical voters: I’m one of you.

Just like Michele Bachmann. References like that fly over my head. Maybe with the right translation guide they won't.