[metmom]

As far as having physical copies of documents, in that day, as in our own day, there's a tradition of oral transmission just to make sure the written record is an accurate copy.

That is the most backward thinking I've ever seen.

Oral tradition to make sure the written word is an accurate copy?

Tell me.... Which is more likely to change over close to 2,000 years? A written manuscript from 2,000 years ago or oral tradition which has allegedly been passed down word of mouth for 2,000 years for however many generations that is?

Please explain to me how an almost 2,000 year old document could have changed during that time?

[muawiyah]

The story is that Rabbinic Judaism has such a tradition. Another that Vedic texts are considered correct only if you have memorized ALL the subtle intonations and melodies ~ the oral tradition there is considered superior.

You really need to get out more, meet people, learn how the memory of man is able to pack data.

People who work extensively on government regulations MUST commit the existing structure and text to memory ~ or to heart as the ancients would say. Only then can they CATCH and CORRECT the errors the mechanical processes create in any text! That means that somewhere there is someone wholiterally knows the federal tax code. Somewhere else there's a person this very day who KNOWS the USPS book of books, the Domestic Mail Manual.