What follows are some excerpts from James McClendon's Biography as Theology.
On fundamentalism:
Fundamentalism is not easy to define, but a part of its (evil) genius is that it seeks to recover a past that never was, and turns the mysteries of faith into literalistic absurdities.
On atonement for now (emphasis mine):
That Jesus died by crucifixion in first-century Palestine is as well established as any fact in his disputed life history. That his first-century followers testified to having been redeemed by him, and particularly by his death and resurrection, is an even better documented historical fact. The issue is whether these facts are to be seen as mere antiquities, like the facts taht Caesar crossed the Rubicon and was subsequently hailed as Emperor by the Romans, or whether the Christian facts just cited are to be seen in vital developing continuity with the living witness of persons of our own time. If the latter is true, we must hold that these lives tell us that the redemptive reality is not a mere phenomenon of the historical past, but is a significant way of life today. Of course, the mere existence of such testimony does not settle the issue -- our witnesses just might be themselves deceived concerning Christian truth, or we might have misunderstood what their lives are really saying to us. The existence of their witness, however, makes Christian atonement a real issue, a live option, and confronts us with that issue here and now.
On the difference between Jesus and Christ:
The stories of the saints' lives are thus a part of the life of Christ; they are not in the same way a part of the life of Jesus. The story of Jesus is a subject for historical investigation.
On the historical Jesus and Christian theology:
[After writing about the skepticism that arises due to historical research into Jesus and the very little material that we might assign as authentic to Jesus himself, McClendon writes:] We know where he stood; we may be permitted to know where we stand with respect to him. And that is what matters for Christian theology.
On the incarnation (emphasis his):
To be sure, Jesus is the Christ; that is to say, there is a moment in the economy of redemption when everything God is doing and will do is invested in that one life.