Non Canonical Books

[Saul]

I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction regarding the non canonical books of the bible i.e The other books that were considered when the Church fathers were developing the Canon but did not make it in.
I am interested in reading the ones that the Church considers to be of important theological benifit.
For example some of what we know about Our Lady is gathered from these writings.
But I would like very much to steer well clear of the ones with heretical content such as the ones that say that Jesus was only a man who was not born of a virgin and whose lover was Mary Magdelene.

 

[NotWorthy]

New Advent Fathers:
Scroll down to near the bottom of the page to the title: Apochrypha. It will list some of the books, why they were rejected and even let you read them.

Good Luck!

Notworthy

 

[Digitonomy]

I haven’t read this particular article, but the old Catholic Encyclopedia of which it’s a part will usually provide a good overview of a subject. Bear in mind, however, that it’s from 1911. A great deal has been learned about some of these apocryphal and pseudepigraphical writings since then. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a good Catholic source.