That the Bible is inspired, the nature and meaning of the inspiration, and similar issues are -- guess what -- Church Doctrine! What books are in the Bible and which aren't? Church Doctrine! I can't talk about one without talking about the other.
But you misunderstood me. I don't spend much time arguing doctrine. It's enough for me to try to articulate it clearly. I certainly wasn't trying to convince someone so much wiser and more learned than I. I'm sure my M.Div in 1976 and my study in the intervening 29 years is trivial in comparison to your learning. And that's fine. I nearly always enjoy coherent and friendly presentations of different points of view.
You seemed to suggest that the only people who needed to be saved from sin were sinners. So I tried to present, by analogy, a way that somebody could be saved from something without actually being "in" it.
Further, what you said about Mary's not being saved suggested that you do not understand what the Catholic Church says about the teaching. Certainly IF she is immaculate, it is only through the saving action of our Lord, just as every good thing every one of us enjoys is through His grace, one way or another. It's clear that you don't agree with the teaching, and I didn't hope to change that. But I hoped to address some of the misunderstanding.
As far as "canned responses" go, I never heard anyone make the analogy I made about saving my daughter from drowning. So while other and wiser people may have made it before me, it was not canned when I made it.
Am I right that you disagree with the conciliar teaching about the reliablity of the Pope's ex cathedra statements? Are you an "Old Catholic" or kind of an unofficially protestant person who wants to remain a kind of loyal opoposition within the Church?