True. And the topic is over my head as far as actual understanding of the issues. But i do know 3 things for sure.
1) Flavius Josephus, with both Roman and Jewish roots, wrote a book, “The Jewish War” shortly after the war. He described many Jewish factions, of which the Esseines were one.
2) “Time” has a reputation for dishonesty and anti-Christianity.
3) The person saying Josephus utterly lied and made it all up, is a controversial scholar, in a field and geographical location where dishonesty about antiquity is the *rule*, for numerous modern political and religious reasons. And her personal religion would benefit by negating the dead sea scrolls.
Those three facts make this,,,, suspect.
The problem is that for much of the history of this period Josephus is all we’ve got. And given his background- rebel leader turned Vespasian client- he can’t be considered an objective, unbiased source.