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Why were John Scotus Erigena's philosophical views criticized by the Western church?

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Medieval philosophy Image of St. Ambrose, detail from a stained-glass window in a Roman Catholic church in Antwerp, Belgium.

John Scotus Erigena’s philosophical works faced significant condemnation from the Western church primarily due to their theological content and perceived heterodoxy.

His early work, De predestinatione (851), which addressed the contentious topic of predestination, was formally condemned by church authorities during his lifetime.1

Later, his principal philosophical treatise, De divisione naturae (862–866), also suffered condemnation. While this work attempted to synthesize Neoplatonist emanation with Christian creation, it was ultimately rejected by the church because of its pantheistic implications. Specifically, Erigena’s view that the multiplicity of creatures flows from God and will eventually be absorbed back into the divine unity at the end of time was seen as incompatible with orthodox Christian doctrine.12