The vast majority of the Christian participants in interfaith dialogue initiatives have until now consisted of mainline/liberal Protestants and Roman Catholics. Evangelical Christians have been largely absent "at the dialogue table." The present paper seeks to investigate the particularities of this phenomenon, particularly from a theological perspective. It will proceed in three subsequent steps. First, it will rehearse and discuss some of the arguments offered to explain the Evangelical Christian absence in interfaith dialogue. Second, it will address the theological reasoning of some Evangelical Christian voices who actually do try to engage in interfaith dialogue. The final part will introduce my own proposal. It will work with the hypothesis that the "soteriological obsession" is the major obstacle preventing the Evangelical Christian participation in interfaith dialogue. This cuts two ways: for Evangelical Christians, if the explicit declaration of faith in Jesus Christ is presumed to be the only way to salvation, then other religionists are seen as condemned to damnation; for adherents of other religions, Evangelical Christians might be viewed as potential "proselytizers in disguise," and as such, a threat. In opposition to this soteriological preoccupation, I will suggest reframing the focus of interfaith dialogue in terms of encountering and engaging with the religious other. The paper will then close with a brief consideration of theological and practical implications of such refocusing, not least with respect to the Evangelical Christian participation in interfaith dialogue.