Shlomo, I’m being consistent. I believe that talmidei chachamim learn torah lishma and their torah is pure, guided by not only their pristine, non biased intellect, but also by siyata dishmaya. There is hashgocha in “dor dor vedorshav”. Their decisions are binding.
I didn’t say that nothing is binding without sanhedrin; that’s putting words in my mouth.