[biblewonk]

It is not our view that every doctrine of Christianity must appear whole, explicit, and often, in the pages of the Bible.

Now that is an understatement.

[dangus]

It IS our belief that public revelation was complete within the Bible. How is this different from Sola Scriptura?

Sola Scriptura, as used presently by Protestants, essentiall presumes the negative on all matters of conflict between Catholics and Protestants. But the negation itself is a presumption, and therefore violates Sola Scriptura.

Does the bible tell us Mary was conceived immaculate? Not directly. It also does not tell us she was NOT conceived immaculate. We have to infer.

The Protestant position (that she was not) has its merits: the bible does say "All have sinned." But there are exceptions to many other apparently absolute statements: Enoch and Elijah did not suffer earthly death, even though "all" people do. Jesus says, "No one has seen the Father," but Jacob did.

The Catholic position is that the Temple which bears the Word of God must be immaculate. Granting this, does it make sense that she was
1. made pure through an instrument other than Christ.
2. was created pure in the first place.

Since Jesus calls her Eve, and notion 1 is harder to reconcile with the role Jesus plays in the world than notion 2 is, the Catholic Church chooses notion 2.