Mottled fruit eaten by a theologian (7)
I believe the answer is:
dappled
'mottled' is the definition.
(I know that mottled can be written as dappled)
'fruit eaten by a theologian' is the wordplay.
'fruit' becomes 'apple' (apple is a kind of fruit).
'eaten by' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters get eaten).
'a theologian' becomes 'DD' (Doctor of Divinity degree).
'apple' placed within 'dd' is 'DAPPLED'.
(Other definitions for dappled that I've seen before include "Spotty" , "Mottled" , "Marked with spots or patches or shade" , "spotted with colour" .)