How were Paul's letters copied and distributed in the ancient world?
Paul's letters were sent as single handwritten copies to congregations, lacking copy machines or instant communication. They were circulated among churches, with one letter intended to be passed around the Ephesus area. Providentially preserved intact for over 300 years, they were later compiled by the Church Fathers into Scripture.
Les explains that Paul's letters went out to various congregations in the ancient world where there were no copy machines and no instant communication. Someone was providentially aware these letters were important and protected them, so they didn't get lost. They were kept intact for three hundred and some years before the Church Fathers put them together into what we call the Scripture. These were just simple letters sent to a congregation. They only had the one copy, and it's doubtful they took the trouble to laboriously handwrite each one for a church. This letter especially was sent to be circled amongst all the churches in the area around Ephesus, and yet it never got lost. Les calls this miraculous.
More Questions
were copies of Paul's letters handwritten for each church?
These were just simple letters sent out to a congregation, and since the senders only had the one copy and no copy machines, they likely did not laboriously handwrite a copy for each church.