66 ANSWERSMAGAZINE.COM Ju ly–Sept. 2012

THE

PROFESSORby Daniel Howell and Marcus Ross

photo by David Shinkle

Class had just begun, but there was more commotion than

usual. After a few minutes, a student in the front row raised

her hand and blurted out, “I’m sorry, but I have to stop you,

Dr. Ross. Where are your shoes?”

It was the first time I had taught class barefoot. I stopped my lecture

briefly to explain that I had just finished reading The Barefoot Book by

Daniel Howell, a fellow biology professor at Liberty University.

I must confess, though, that I originally didn’t want to read the book.

It was my wife’s idea. I dutifully got a copy from my weirdo colleague, a

man who never wears shoes, and brought it home. But after I read about

all the ways shoes cause foot problems, it dawned on me: God had created

us barefoot in the Garden of Eden. Of course the bare foot works best on

its own. We were made that way. Once that truth sank in, my shoes flew

off, and I joined Daniel in the small but growing ranks of barefooters.

In our modern civilized society, walking around barefoot is something we do in our backyard. But when college professors start showing up in class without shoes, you know something unusual must be going on. You’re about to learn something new—the wonders of foot design.

Dr. Daniel Howell, an anatomy prof, shed his shoes after studying the foot’s unique designs.