“Bruce McConkie on the Fallibility of the Chapter Headings [in the Book of Mormon]”

In most modern LDS editions of the Book of Mormon (until quite recently), the chapter heading to Alma 11 talks about Nephite coinage.  Does this commit us to the view that the Nephites had minted coins?

No, it doesn’t.  The chapter doesn’t describe minted coins; that chapter heading is incorrect.

So far as we know, minted coinage originated in 7th-6th BC century Anatolia.  The Nephites probably didn’t have coins, and the Book of Mormon itself doesn’t actually claim that they did.  Hence, our failure to find Mesoamerican coins (let alone Nephite coins) is of no relevance to the question of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

But, some critics respond, the modern chapter headings were created under the supervision of (if not altogether by) Elder Bruce R. McConkie, then a member of the Council of the Twelve.  So aren’t they error-free scripture?

Not according to Elder McConkie:

http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.com/2016/05/bruce-mcconkie-on-fallibility-of.html

Posted from Richmond, Virginia