Clickbait title... "they" being who? The Council of Nicea? The Vatican?

"Early" Christianity is vague. The reason there are four official gospels is simple: "they" knew that they were the oldest. And they don't contain basically objectionable tropes, like the misogyny of the Gospel of Thomas, for instance. Or Marcion and the bad OT god and the good NT god—Jesus being incomprehensible without the OT as background.

But these "lost" texts are interesting, you're right. The Protoevangelium of James has had an ongoing influence, especially on the veneration of Mary.