TML

About a year ago my dad introduced me to a young woman from China (my native country) who grew up there but is currently studying here in the USA. She just turned 25 this week, and her best shot at staying in this country for the long term is to marry someone with legal status here (otherwise, she may be forced to return to her native land within a year from now). When I asked her about Christianity, she said she was not interested in converting. Here are some things I have gathered (in no particular order) in regards to her view on religion: -Some of her (Chinese) university classmates took her to church events, and while her classmates mostly accepted Christianity, she felt that they looked upon her differently after they converted (she felt their attitude toward her was like "why haven't you converted?"). -She has stated that she would only convert to Christianity if she personally felt God (which she says hasn't happened). -In conversation, no amount of theological arguments I present to her in favor of Christianity seems to have any effect on her -She once threatened to cut off contact with me if I insisted on her converting to Christianity -She has told me that if she were to try to convert to Christianity, she would be doing it for the purpose of locking in our relationship, not for the purpose of seeking the truth. Now, because of her non-religiousness, and because I have yet to actually develop any romantic feelings for her (at least when compared to typical depictions of romantic feelings in books/movies/tv), I feel that I cannot in good conscience consider her anything more than a non-romantic friend. This upsets her in the sense that she wants me to consider her my GF. In addition, my parents have told me that if I simply abandon her on the grounds of her not being a Christian, I could potentially alienate her from Christianity even further, especially if she ends up finding a non-Christian BF and/or spouse. When I went online to look up people's questions/answers on this kind of situation, I found that people have stated that if one insists on getting the other person to convert to the same religion as their own, then that would not be considered true love, as true love supposedly means accepting the other person for what he/she is in all aspects. I also found that people who convert to a particular religion primarily for the purpose of locking in a relationship with their significant other are less likely to stick with the religion they convert to compared to people who convert for the purpose of seeking the truth. Now, I am at a loss as to how to proceed. I myself would want to officially stop this relationship, but my parents still want me to continue treating her as a non-romantic friend and keep trying to convert her, and also to keep trying to draw closer to her romantically (they consider her to be very capable on a personal level). Aside from advice on this particular issue, I've also been wondering about what to do for other potential future relationships of this kind: upon meeting the other person, should I start by asking her if (1) she is a Christian, or (2) if not, is she willing to convert to Christianity, and then "screening her out" if she answers no to both questions?

John - this is the book which is usually recommended as the starting point for Bible beginners.