James Charlesworth, director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project and professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, said there is "significant evidence for the Essenes’ existence" and "It is impossible that Josephus created a group already mentioned by Philo, who had visited Jerusalem."
James Charlesworth, director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project and professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, indicated that there is "solid evidence for the Essenes’ history" and "it is unlikely that Josephus fabricated a group previously mentioned by Philo, who had been to Jerusalem."