Headline writers are having fun with stories about a new translation of the Bible, which has been in the works since 1994 and will finally be released on March 9 (Ash Wednesday): “Bishops boot ‘booty’ from revised Bible,” “Booty Recall: Bishops Drop Word from Bible.” Sure, spoils is replacing booty in the forthcoming edition of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) New American Bible — which, being a 21st century update, already has its own Facebook page — but that’s hardly the most intriguing adjustment.  Read further in USA Today’s article, and you’ll come across this tidbit: One change may set off alarms with traditionalists, in a passage many Christians believe foreshadows the coming of Christ and his birth to a virgin. The 1970 version of Isaiah 7:14 says “the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” The 2011 text refers to “the young woman” instead. It elaborates that the original Hebrew word, almah, may, or may not, signify a virgin. Details, details. It’s one thing to change booty to spoils, and bring the text more into line with today’s language, but doesn’t changing virgin to young woman have some pretty weighty implications? (More on TIME.com: What the Bible Has to Say About Sex) “The effort in this translation was to be as faithful to the original Hebrew as possible,” says the USCCB’s Mary Elizabeth Speers. “It doesn’t mean the bishops are changing their mind on the virgin birth of Jesus or the perpetual virginity of Mary. That doctrine stands, and will probably stand until the end of time.” Speers points out that references to the virgin birth remain unchanged in the revised edition’s New Testament; she says the Gospel of Matthew quotes the Greek translation of Isaiah, which used the Greek word for virgin, and so in Matthew, virgin it is. “We need to say what he [Matthew] said,” says Speers, who notes further that Luke 1:34, “which is actually the very strong warrant for the birth of Jesus,” has … Continue reading Controversial Bible Revision: About That ‘Virgin’ Thing…