Should Christians Read Extra-Biblical Books?

Most Christians grow up knowing the Bible as a fixed thing — 66 books, Old Testament and New, Genesis to Revelation. What’s less commonly understood is that other ancient texts exist just outside that boundary: writings from the same world and era as Scripture that didn’t make the final cut, or that different Christian traditions have handled differently. Some of those books appear in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles but not Protestant ones. Some were read by early churches and eventuall