I agree there is a difference and I am Catholic. I think too that many Protestants act as if Solo Scriptura was the rallying cry of the Reformation and not Sola Scriptura. I think the confusion lies with Scripture being given primary authority as the source for all subsequent authority such as confessions, doctrinal teachings and articles of faith and the creeds. These things are not above Scripture but they are drawn from Scripture and as such as authority. This is what prevents what us Catholics uncharitably call “being your own Pope”.
This stands in contrast to sects which claim that even the Creeds are not be used because they are extra Biblical. This sort of sect is the one I would say is Solo Scriptura and often are built up around a cult of personality.
I know that many orthodox Protestants from mainline denominations are fighting to keep their denomination faithful to the Gospel. Especially in matters of sexual morality. I pray that despite our differences you continue to hold steadfast.
“I think too that many Protestants act as if Solo Scriptura was the rallying cry of the Reformation and not Sola Scriptura. I think the confusion lies with Scripture being given primary authority as the source for all subsequent authority such as confessions, doctrinal teachings and articles of faith and the creeds. “ The primary reason that Solo Scriptura became the evangelical rallying cry was that after the Second Great Awakening and the great revivals that swept the new nation you had a people who were suspicious of clergy who clung to rote and essentially dry doctrine. It seemed to a people eager hear the gospel and to enliven their worship that the educated clergyman had no soul and that he preached prepared sermons to a mostly bored but aristocratic congregation. The creeds and doctrinal elucidations seemed like so much popish embellishment to the simple message of the Bible. Like most things in history, solo scriptura was a reaction to the more academic sola scriptura, and its legacy remains today within the evangelical churches regardless of denomination.It is usually the Reformed or Presbyterian Churches whose histories have always had a highly educated clergy that seek to revive the confessions and the doctrinal purity of their earlier years.
Sola Scriptura is basically the response given when others have tried to put extra-biblical things above what the bible says about matters. The Bible is THE Word of God and there is no human document written by anyone else that is equal or supercedes it. No tradition of man supercedes anything in Scripture either.
And as far as a cult of personality is concerned, I would suggest that the Roman church has its own cults of personality and it’s probably not a line of argument you want to use to make a point other than one that ends in “remove the beam from your own eye, then help your brother remove the splinter in theirs”.
Fact is every denomination has issues. Some are actively trying to fight apostacy while others are embracing it and calling it “good”.